Unexpected
by Celery Sticks
Summary: Jinx finds herself falling for a titan, but this is a crush no one saw coming. All she can think about are those green eyes and that bright smile... but what's a girl do when the object of her affection wants noting to do with her? Easy: show Starfire what she's missing.
1. The Beginning

It had been just like every other fight with the Hive Five gang.

The titans had all been more or less relaxing (if you could count Cyborg and Beast Boy screaming at each other over a video game as "relaxing") when the alarm had sounded. This was normal. The teens were still just that: teens. They rarely ever trained on a strict schedule. Aside from Robin's mandatory sparring sessions, they rarely trained at all, particularly Beast Boy.

Regardless, when the alarm sounded each titan stopped what they were doing and raced to the titan mainframe to see what the trouble was. Apparently, the Hive Five were up to their usual antics. Today, their unfortunate target was the street fair being held across town. With Robin's usual cry of "Titans, go!" the misfit gang of super heroes set off to stop the troublemakers.

…And at first, it had been no different from the numerous other scuffles the titans had gotten into with this particular group of ne'er-do-wells.

The titans arrived with a rather impressive, heroic entrance beginning with Raven scaring the pants off of Billy Numerous and ending with Starfire sending Mammoth clear through the wall of the fun house.

Jinx, Gizmo, Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd stared down the titans with angry scowls as their teammates composed themselves. Jinx had cocked her hip and tossed her head, "The Teen Titans. What a surprise."

Robin replied with a sarcastic "Sorry to spoil your fun, but playtime's over!" as he dropped into a fighting stance.

The usual banter. And then began the usual fighting.

Both sides charged at one another, and the usual pairs broke off into their own separate fights. Jinx and Raven, Starfire and Seemore, Cyborg and Gizmo. Robin squared off against both Mammoth and Kyd Wykkyd; it would have been unfair odds for anyone but Robin. That left Beast Boy to deal with Billy Numerous, and he did fairly well given the fact that it quickly went from one on one, to three on one, to ten on one and so on. But hey, being a Tyrannosaurus Rex, dealing with a few dozen hillbillies wasn't all too difficult.

And everything proceeded as usual… until Jinx found herself in need of a new opponent.

Maybe Raven was having a bad day (Beast Boy would protest that every day was a bad day for Raven but still), or maybe Jinx just got incredibly lucky. Either way, the telepath took a bad hit, and when she fell she didn't get up.

But Jinx wasn't satisfied. She looked around to see which of her teammates needed help and she saw Seemore struggling to hold back a barrage of starbolts. Following the trail of glowing green energy, her eyes narrowed at the form of the (beautiful) Tamaranean princess. A quick survey of the fairground showed a plethora of possible distractions: maybe she could set the ferris wheel on fire, or bust the pipes in that funneled the water in the log flume... but then the young sorceress realized just how many balloons were bobbing about, attached to stalls and even the rides themselves. With a slight smile, she snapped her fingers and caused the hundreds of balloon strings in the area to snap, setting their airy burdens free up into the sky. Suddenly the air around the young titan was filled with green, blue, red, and pink balloons, effectively obscuring the crime-fighter's vision.

Seemore, unfortunately for Starfire, was not distracted and, with the help of his thermal vision, was able to locate the alien quickly and shoot her out of the sky. Jinx went in for the kill, fully expecting to thrash the alien girl soundly with what she thought were her vastly superior hand-to-hand combat skills.

So when she found herself sliding rapidly across the ground in the opposite direction, heat rose rapidly in her already-pink cheeks. Sitting up with a huff, she looked over her shoulder at the titan who stood in a confident battle stance, her fists alight with Starbolt energy. There was no delight or amusement in having temporarily defeated Jinx, only steady determination.

The young sorceress flipped backup and regarded her enemy for a moment before grinning. Lifting up her hand in a universal "Bring it on!" gesture, she purred "What, is that it?"

Starfire frowned, but didn't bother responding with words. Instead, she let out a battle cry as she charged forward and Jinx dropped into a defensive stance. When Starfire came within striking distance she swung a glowing fist; Jinx ducked under it and retaliated by sweeping the titan's legs out from under her, hoping to send her crashing to the ground. But we all know Starfire can fly, so instead of falling she merely hung suspended in the air.

Jinx paused for a moment before she stood back up, looking rather miffed. She crossed her arms and frowned. "You couldn't have just went with it? It's hardly fair that I had to kiss the pavement and you just get to defy gravity. Honestly!" Starfire remained silent, staring at her with a curious expression. Jinx stared right back, and the bubbly titan slowly began to blush. As she righted herself she looked away, rubbing at her arm in a state of embarrassment.

"Well, it is instinct. I am not accustomed to impaling myself on the earth because I am conscious of appearing humble…" Jinx cocked a brow and tried not to smile. She wasn't being serious, not completely, but it was cute that Starfire wasn't catching on to her tease at all.

_Cute?_ Jinx regarded the flustered alien princess again, and tilted her head subconsciously. _Yes. Cute. _There was no denying the titan before her was beautiful, even the most narcissistic of villains would admit to that, but the thought that she was 'cute' had never once crossed Jinx's mind. Nor had the thought to tease her, either. She'd had no idea where that came from, but seeing a blushing Starfire was definitely worth it.

The moment was ruined however, when Mammoth came crashing down in between them. His great mass left cracks in the pavement (which will become important soon) and he moaned in pain as he rolled back onto his knees. He shook his head before glancing up; the sun was blocked out by the rapidly descending shadow of Robin. With a roar, Mammoth snatched the young boy out of the air and brought him smack down into the street, worsening the cracks that were already in the road.

"Hah! How's that feel, Wonder Boy?"

Starfire gasped, staring down at Robin's injured form, before her eyes lit up with green rage and Mammoth was hit with the full force of her eye beams. Jinx instinctively bent over backwards as his great girth flew past her head, somersaulting away from the two titans. When she straightened back up, all thoughts of Starfire fled her mind as she surveyed the state of the battle.

A pile of Billy Numerous' lay defeated at the feet of a satisfied-looking T-Rex, and the echo of Cyborg's sonic cannon proved to be slowly overpowering Seemore's laser and she noted with a frown that Gizmo had been de-tech'ed. He now sat at Cyborg's feet with his arms and legs crossed. Mammoth was obviously having trouble, and she felt her hair and spirits fall when she saw that Raven was back on her feet, standing before a fallen Kyd Wykkyd.

Glaring back before her, she saw Starfire helping Robin to his feet, her feet planted firmly on the cracked pavement. _Cracked…_ pink hair perked back up and a vicious smile lit up Jinx's face as she remembered her very first altercation with the Titans. Bracing herself for her attack, she called out to Robin, "Hey, Bird Boy! I believe you're familiar with the city sewers, right?" The white mask stared her down as her smirk grew. "I think it's time for a little reunion!" The mask widened in surprise as Jinx swung her arms forward, waves of pink energy following. She thought she saw the boy wonder's hand reach for his belt, but she couldn't have been sure, because suddenly there was nothing for her to stand on.

_Shit._ She hadn't put enough distance between herself and the two titans; the cracks in the pavement had extended far enough towards her so that when she hit the damaged street with her energy waves, her own standing ground had begun to crumble.

Her mind was screaming at her to move, to get away, but her body was frozen as the pavement breaking off in great chunks and falling down into the sewage current below. She fell down into the darkness and was assaulted by a wave of terror; the sounds of rushing water and waste grew louder with each passing second, and the smell grew worse with each passing second...

…And as she wondered how she had time to complain about the smell, she realized she'd stopped falling. Her momentum had been arrested, and the concrete continued to fall, Jinx staying suspended in the air. As she wondered how that was possible, she became aware of an alien warmth surrounding her. When she opened her eyes she realized that the phrase 'alien warmth,' was quite literal.

Starfire had caught her. Starfire had _saved_ her. Jinx stared into those bright, concerned green eyes completely dumbfounded. Why had the titan saved her? Hadn't Robin fallen too?

A quick glance upward showed that Robin had indeed been reaching for his belt before the fall; he'd gotten one of his weird bird-boomerang things and used it to catch at the edge of the street. He hung in the air, swaying gently back and forth as the draft in the tunnel pushed against the cord that held him up. He was glaring at Jinx. A quick glance downward told her why.

Starfire was holding her bridal style, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other was dangerously close to-

And she was blushing again.

"Jinx, you are unharmed?" Jinx gave only a shy nod, and Starfire smiled brightly. "Wonderful! It seems the return fire has come upon your plan, but I am glad to hear you are unharmed. Robin is fine as well!"

Starfire began to float upwards, and Jinx instinctively wrapped her arms around Starfire's neck, not used to such motion. She tried to ignore the warmth in her cheeks, rapidly spreading to her ears. They floated past Robin, who'd begun to pull himself up.

They returned to the surface to a fight clearly finished; both sides just wanted their teammates to come out alright. Both the titans and the Hive Five seemed surprised to see Jinx held safely in Starfire's arms, Beast Boy in fact was standing slack-jawed, eyes as wide as saucers. Starfire gently set Jinx on her feet then immediately turned to help Cyborg pull Robin up. Jinx glanced at her from the corner of her eye, brushing at the hair that had come undone and fallen down over her face, pushing it back in place. Her teammates crowded around her, Gizmo glaring up at the sorceress with the an odd combination of irritation and concern.

"That was a pretty stupid move! You coulda gotten hurt!"

Once Robin was safely back solid ground he was crushed in an alien bear hug. "Oh, I am glad to see you are unharmed!" This was a pretty good end to the conflict in her eyes; the fight was over and no one had gotten seriously hurt. Well... except the street, but streets didn't have feelings, so it was alright!

Robin smiled at her, once she'd let go and he'd regained control of his respiration. "I'm fine Star, thanks. There was no way that trick was gonna work on me again; I was ready for her this time! Gotta admit, it's kinda nice knowing she got a taste of her own medicine; I guess karma is real, after all."

Starfire frowned. She was happy that her friend was unscathed, ecstatic really, but harm should never be wished on another person. Even one's enemies.

"Hey, Starfire..." Starfire turned towards the sound and saw Jinx looking at her shyly, hair slightly mussed... and there was soot dusted lightly across the other girl's cheek. The pink sorceress looked a bit shaken, as was to be expected. She had just taken an unexpected, unwelcome free-fall, after all. The sorceress stepped forward lightly, her weight held on one foot.

"Yes, Jinx?"

Pink eyes (beautiful eyes) met hers for a moment, unsure, but the shyness was only there for a moment before her gaze became confident again. She placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder and leaned in...

A quick kiss from pink lips was placed upon a tan cheek.

Starfire's mouth fell open in surprise as Jinx stepped away, eyes alight with a flirtatious yet genuinely thankful glow. "Thanks for saving me."

The rest of the titans were in equal shock, as were the other members of the Hive Five gang. There wasn't a single jaw that hadn't dropped to the floor (except Jinx's, of course). There was complete and utter silence for a moment; Starfire blinked once, unsure of what to do. Jinx simply smiled at her, a blush still evident in her cheeks, though her ears had cooled down some. The sound of her heels clacking against the pavement as she stepped away broke the silence, and the rest of the Hive Five started at the sound; they cast curious looks at Starfire before following after Jinx, who didn't look back.

The titans remained stock-still for a moment more; Cyborg was the first to move. He scratched at the top of his head (the metal half) and watched the Hive Five walk away... not quite sure if he should try and stop them. Considering they'd already been beaten, and they weren't walking away with any stolen goods, he decided against it and turned to look at Starfire.

The first words out of his mouth, while spoken without forethought, were oddly enough a fairly accurate description of their current situation.

"Well, that was... unexpected."


	2. Confusion

**Unexpected: Chapter II**

Robin stared in disbelief at Starfire's back as the young Tamaranean waved joyfully at the retreating forms of the Hive Five.

"You are most welcome, Jinx! Return home safely, for we shall continue this another day!" When Starfire clasped her hands behind her back and turned back around to face her friends, her dazzling smile fell from her face. "Friends, what is wrong?"

The four other titans were slack-jawed. Curious green eyes passed over each of them, and she began to grow nervous. "Has a cat stolen your tongues?"

Beast Boy recovered first… somewhat. He blinked, his mouth still hanging open, before shouting, "Jinx just kissed you! She, like, kissed you! We all saw that, right? That totally happened? Right? I'm not dreaming, right?" He pointed an accusing finger at Starfire, "You _felt _it, right!"

Starfire cocked her head and answered positively in a most confused tone. Robin shook his head and clenched his hands. "And… you don't find that weird?"

"Not at all, I believe she was simply showing her heartfelt thanks. I did save her from what would have been a most hideous fall, after all."

Raven rolled her eyes and Cyborg chuckled nervously. Beast Boy just continued to stare. Robin sighed and put a hand on Starfire's shoulder. "Right. Let's just leave it at that. You're alright? Not hurt anywhere?"

Starfire smiled halfheartedly. "I do not see where else we could leave it... but yes, I am fine, Friend Robin. Shall we return home?" The Boy Wonder stared hard at her for a moment longer. When he finally nodded ascent, the Tamaranean beauty lifted off the ground and waited for her friends to ready themselves for the trip home.

Once Cyborg had started the T-Car and Robin had mounted his cycle, she headed up and away from the carnage below. She didn't go far however before she stopped in midair; she turned to gaze after the Hive Five who were still faintly in sight, unusually easy to spot.

Well, Jinx was, at least.

Starfire stared curiously in their direction for another moment before turning back towards home.

* * *

"Didn't see that coming!"

Jinx simply tossed her head and continued walking, nose held high in the air. Gizmo whirred about somewhere near her head, eyeing the sorceress with a suspicious and almost disappointed glare. "I thought for sure you had the hots for the gloomy, annoying one that never deems us fit to see her pit-sniffing face!"

Jinx stopped and sneered in disgust. "What, you mean that irritating concentration of emo-negative energy Raven? Ugh, don't make me gag. I can barely stand being in the same room as her; every time I see that blue hoodie it literally pains me! Why do you think she's always my first target?" Cat-like eyes glared fiercely at the boy genius, whose cheeks and ears were now red with embarrassment as he scratched absentmindedly at his bare cranium.

"Well… I actually kinda thought that was proof you, ya know, liked her. 'Cuz you wanted to fight her yourself all the time… like you didn't want anyone else near her and-"

Jinx's hand flashed out and snared Gizmo by the scruff of his shirt and she snarled as she brought her face close to his, "I didn't want anyone else near her because I like tearing her down. She thinks she's so despairingly misunderstood, when she's really just a self-absorbed brat that's been indulged and allowed to put on airs for God knows how long! Besides..." Her voice grew infinitely lighter and nonchalant as she released the poor boy and continued walking, "she's not my type."

Seemore, who had been watching the whole affair with the only eye that wasn't completely terrified (Mammoth, Billy Numerous and Kyd Wykkyd all cowered behind him), lengthened his stride until he was at Jinx's side.

"And… Starfire is?"

Jinx didn't stop walking, but flicked her gaze toward her teammate with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Well, it's hard to ignore that body… you should know, Mr. See-through Vision." A knowing smile graced her features as Seemore's cheeks darkened. Her eyes turned foreword again and her smile became more sincere. "But honestly, it's more her personality that I like. With a body like that, you'd think she'd be a bit more smug… but she's really sweet and sincere. It's cute."

The rest of the Hive Five exchanged nervous looks, which went completely unnoticed by Jinx as she ducked into the alleyway that lead to the gang's secret lair. Heading inside, Jinx immediately went to the fridge to grab a soda; it had been a hot one today, and Jinx was glad to be back in the embrace of air-conditioning. She let the cold air wash over her face for a moment, reveling in the icy freshness, before shutting the fridge and heading over to the couch. Plopping down right in the center, she leaned back and popped the can, taking a long swig before letting out a contented sigh. "So, what's for dinner?"

Mammoth and Billy immediately brightened at the thought of food; they raced to the kitchen to retrieve the many take-out menus the Hive Five kept stacked above the fridge. None of the Five were particularly good cooks, except for Seemore, who could actually make a pretty bangin' gumbo. But gumbo took hours to make... and they were hungry now.

Gizmo continued to look disappointed; apparently the thought of Raven and Jinx together had been more important to him than he'd let on. Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd stood together behind the young genius, deep in silent, mental conversation. Both were very concerned; Jinx may have gotten Mammoth and Billy Numerous on another train of thought, but the pink-haired sorceress hadn't thrown _them_ off track.

Jinx had called Starfire "cute". This did not bode well for either of them. There was no way Jinx could carry on a relationship with a hero; it didn't matter what the storybooks said, it just didn't work. There were too many hardships, too many obstacles. If Starfire fell for Jinx, she could very well lose her status as a Teen Titan. If Jinx fell for Starfire, Jinx would face nothing but heartbreak and ostracization from her peers in the villain community.

If Jinx was at all serious about pursuing the young Tamaranean, and it was very likely that she was considering how she'd acted around the titan today, calling her cute, it would end in disaster.

The pair of them glanced over at the couch; Mammoth stood hunched over to Jinx's level, the menu from his favorite Chinese place 'Happy Panda Palace' clutched tightly in his meaty hands. The two were discussing what should be ordered, Jinx grinning up at the giant of a man as he continued to list items; he'd probably end up naming half the menu, if not more. Seemore glanced at Kyd Wykkyd, who nodded gravely, before looking back at Jinx and clearing his throat.

"So, uh… what happens now?"

Jinx turned away from her conversation with Mammoth to gaze curiously at her teammate, the remnants of a smile hanging around the corners of her mouth. "Whatcha mean?"

Seemore shrugged and looked away for a moment. "Well…" Then his one eye came up again and focused intently on her. "About Starfire." Thin shoulders tensed as all of the mirth disappeared from Jinx's face and her eyes narrowed, iris' darkening.

"What about her?"

"Jinx, you just told us you thought she was cute, and I don't think I've ever seen you blush like that before today. What's the deal?" Concern began to outweigh the fear as Jinx's gaze grew more defensive with each word out of his mouth. "I mean, you're not seriously gonna, you know, ask her out or anything, right?"

Jinx continued to stare at him darkly for a moment, but then her eyes slid shut and she sighed deeply. "Not that it's any of your business who I date, but no I don't plan on chasing that particular skirt. I'll leave that to you. And she may be cute, but I just like messing with her. That's all."

Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd let out relieved sighs simultaneously, but their relief was short lived.

Gizmo, who'd been pouting silently for some time now, suddenly perked up and began dancing in place, sadistic delight coating his face. "Ooh! Ooh! I know what we can- ooh! Sweet! Yes! Messing with her! Jinx you're a genius! Man, this is gonna be so sick!" The Hive Five gazed curiously down at the dancing boy, though Jinx's gaze was laced with disgust.

"Uh, thanks, but how exactly am I genius and just what exactly is going to be so sick?"

Gizmo grinned and stopped jumping long enough to lay out his plan, a plan that would lead to a lot of trouble… for both sides of the law.

"You said it yourself, messing with that space-head is fun right? Well what if we use that? Huh? Huh? Get it? Like, next time we see the titans, you mess with her, get her distracted and boom! Think of how much easier that'll be for us!" When the rest of his team continued to stare at him blankly, a sound similar to that of an angry howler monkey escaped him and he whipped out his controller. He filed through his video storage drive and began playing back a number of different fights they'd had with the titans, specifically fights where Starfire had played a huge role in the Hive Five's defeat.

"Think about it; even though she's so freaking happy all the time, she's seriously annoying to fight. She's stronger than that walking scrap yard Cyborg, she can fly faster than Miss Despair and the green idiot, plus she's got superpowers and a thicker skin than anything that's ever walked the earth: two things the Boy Blunder doesn't have. If you can throw her off her game, not only do we bring down one of the strongest titans out there, we'll find ourselves swimming in stolen jewels, cash, and whatever the hell else we want!"

Now it made sense, perfect sense really. Jinx's face split into a Cheshire cat grin, and her teammates seemed equally thrilled by Gizmo's plan, even Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd. Just the thought of all the goods they'd get their hands on was enough to send any sense of foresight fleeing to the back of their minds.

"That's not such a bad idea, little man." Gizmo grinned proudly. It _was_ a great plan, after all.

"So long as you don't get in too deep, Jinx." The concern Kyd Wykkyd and Seemore co-harbored managed to work in that little word of caution, but that was it. Jinx's predatory grin made it seem almost superficial.

"Oh don't worry about me. I've got this."

Unfortunately for the lot of them, no one sensed the hidden meaning in Jinx's words. Sure, she'd be careful not to fall in too deep, but there was no way Jinx was going to pass up such a golden opportunity to get close to her new curiosity… something had happened between the two of them earlier that day. There was no denying that. "Cute," was never a word that came to mind when thinking of the titans, but now it seemed to be the only one.

Before today, the titans had just been a collective group of goodie-two-shoes that got on her nerves. Now, when Jinx thought of the titans, she only thought of one in particular.

'_This is going to be so much fun.'_

* * *

**Re-read and re-written, I much prefer the way this one went. The way I had this chapter before, there was a lot of unnecessary stuff. It's much better now, much more Teen Titans.  
**

**Anyway, as you can clearly see I will be continuing this! I thought of a way to make this extend over several chapters, and since this fandom is so small and under appreciated I will do so. I hope you enjoy it.  
**

**Now to address a few things: yes, I do hate the JinxXRaven pairing. Raven isn't exactly my favorite character, and I don't feel that she's right for Jinx. Way too serious, and she's got enough baggage for the both of them; I think Jinx is a bit too proud to accept that her problems aren't the biggest. This is actually why I think Starfire would be a good match for her; she's usually cheerful, which would keep Jinx in good, calm spirits, but she can be serious when she needs to be, and she's not stupid. Jinx needs someone that'll let her do what she wants, but won't allow themselves to be taken advantage of. **

**I do feel that Starfire is the most powerful of the titans; she can fly faster than the speed of light, for God's sake! She's just downplayed because she can be a bit too bubbly for her own good.  
**

**Jinx is my favorite character; I feel that she is just as sweet as she is devious, and I hope that I can write a convincing Jinx that will project that.  
**

**Anyway, please enjoy!  
**


	3. Suns and Clouds

**Unexpected: III**

Starfire woke up that morning in her usual state of cheer, though her eyes retained a dream-like fogginess and her smile was more relaxed than it normally became by the afternoon. Yawning gently as she rose from bed, the young alien floated to the window to check the time. Though her friends kept clocks by their bedsides, Tamaraneans always kept time by the planet's celestial beings, finding them more reliable than a handful of symbols that could be changed at will. Besides, one did not always have a clock at hand, but the suns, stars and moons were always in sight.

Seeing the Earth's only sun still climbing up from the east and noting the pale, almost periwinkle state of the sky, Starfire decided it was sometime after the seventh hour of the day. Specifically, she would name it as 7:16 A.M. and she figured that gave her plenty of time to do her morning stretches before her fellow titans woke up.

Breathing in deeply, Starfire proceeded to flex and stretch each of her muscles as she did every morning to keep her body relaxed and "ready for action". Who knows what terrors and trials she and her friends would have to face today? Yesterday they had faced the Hive Five…

And all of sudden, her head was completely consumed with thoughts of the Five's only female: Jinx. Starfire thought on all that had occurred between the two of them yesterday, head tilting to the side subconsciously as she brought her arms above and over her head to stretch her triceps.

The titan knew from past experience that Jinx was a naturally flirtatious girl and that she teased nearly everyone she fought with, sometimes even going so far as to involve bystanders in her "fun". However, as the street had begun to crumble and the sorceress had fallen, Starfire had gotten a glimpse at what she believed was hidden behind the coyness and that ever-present grin. She'd seen those pink, cat-like eyes fill with fear… and then she'd seen what had been perhaps the most curious collection of human emotions the Tamaranean princess had ever seen. Surprise, relief, confusion, embarrassment, curiosity…

Starfire was curious herself. Why had she saved Jinx? She hadn't even thought about doing it really, her body had just reacted. All she remembered was a flash of pink, the street crumbling, and then all of a sudden she had the girl in her arms. She did remember a scream though, and maybe that was when her body reacted. Her powers were based on emotion after all, fearing for the girl's life may have put her in what Cyborg would call "auto-pilot," but that raised a whole other round of questions. Why had she feared for the girl's life? Robin had been thrown into the sewers and lived, Starfire knew this. And Robin… why had she not saved him? He was her friend, surely she should have feared for his life more than her enemy's…

It was too early in the morning for such complex thought. Though her stretches had rejuvenated her body, Starfire's head was still not quite up to par.

'_Maybe Friend Raven is awake; I should make sure she is alright regardless, for Cyborg did say she could have suffered a concussion. Maybe she would like to meditate with me; it should help both of our heads.'_

She opened the windows to let in the crisp morning air, then left her room and headed off towards Raven's. The morning had not yet grown strong enough to reach the corridors of the tower; the hallway was still dim and possessed that empty quality most inhabited buildings did every morning. Beast Boy and Cyborg would still definitely be sleeping; Robin might be awake but if he was he probably wouldn't leave his room until he was sure someone else was up.

Starfire smiled as she thought of Robin; the solemn young man may give off an air of solitude, but the truth was he really did hate to be alone. This had become apparent sometime after he freed himself of Slade's grasp; he never again isolated himself from the other titans and always shared his concerns and conspiracies with his teammates. It was part of the inner child in him that made him bearable for the other titans, and endearing for Starfire herself.

Soon enough she found herself at Raven's door, and after knocking gently several times she waited for a moment for a response. With none forthcoming, she knocked again, slightly louder this time. This time her knocking was reciprocated with sounds of moaning and cloth shifting, then slightly unsteady footsteps.

The door opened a fraction to reveal what was still a half-asleep Raven, bed hair and all. And was that a slight trail of drool at the corner of her mouth? Giggling slightly, Starfire smiled warmly at her teammate. "Good morning, Friend Raven. I am sorry for waking you, but I thought maybe I should, what with your head injury and all. Do you wish to be left alone? I can tell by your… current state you were still deep in sleep when I knocked."

When Raven raised an eyebrow, mumbling back "current state" with a curious tone, Starfire giggled again and motioned to the side of her own mouth. Raven's eyes widened slightly before she wiped vigorously at the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Pale cheeks turned pink at the sound of Starfire's laughter, and the telepath sighed before opening the door all the way and retreating back into the darkness.

"I don't really fall back asleep once I've been embarrassed, so you might as well come in. Want tea?" Starfire nodded happily and Raven moved to the small stove she'd had Cyborg install in her room so she could make herself tea when she didn't feel like going to the kitchen. If she had paid him to do it, she would have called it a great investment, because she used it all the time.

"The usual fine?"

"Of course!" The two girls had gotten quite close over the years; after some minor misunderstandings had been righted and some ground rules laid out, they got along famously. Starfire may have been too eager to make new friends and Raven was perhaps too wrapped up in her fear of her own emotions when they first met, but now that the both of them had mellowed out they were the best of friends. Each went to the other with their more personal problems, and because each of their powers were controlled by emotion they understood each other.

When the tea was done, the two sat in comfortable silence, Starfire waiting for Raven to fully wake up before venturing into conversation.

"So, your head is alright? Cyborg had all of us quite worried yesterday, myself especially. We do not have concussions on my planet; they sound quite horrible!"

Raven smiled even as her eyes remained closed. "Yeah, they're no walk in the park. Yesterday I was nearly incoherent, it was awful. The tea helps though, as does Cyborg's little… 'alarm clock'. I use the word 'help' very loosely." When Starfire looked confused, Raven pointed to the small device that rested on her bedside table. It was a little version of Cyborg himself, wearing a lab coat and nurse's hat. Underneath the time there was a little panel that read "Doctor Cyborg's Concussion Clock".

Starfire's spirits fell when she realized she'd woken Raven up for nothing. "So, I did not need to-"

Raven seemed to sense what she was about to say; her eyes widened and she put a hand out in protest. "No! No, I appreciate it, really! It was much better waking up to you than that annoying little…" Trailing off, the telepath blushed as she realized what she said, and blushed darker still when Starfire beamed at her. Sipping her tea to cover herself, she searched desperately for something to say that would rectify the situation.

"Even though the clock didn't care if I was drooling…"

Raven mentally high-fived herself as Starfire's smile quickly changed to a look of horror as she defended herself, claiming she didn't care if Raven drooled either but thought that she would want to know should one of the boys see it later.

"Besides, it is a… a sign that your sleep was deep and restful!" And she would have gone on, had Raven not laid a hand on her arm and told her it was just a jest, all in good fun.

"I was just kidding Star, let's go get breakfast. Just putting this out there though, you're not cooking." Starfire smiled sheepishly and rose, offering a hand to her friend, who took it and rose with her. Starfire took the mug from her friend's other hand, and Raven retrieved her cloak. The dark young teenager tossed it over her shoulders, but decided to leave the hood down as she gazed fondly at Starfire out of the corner of her eye.

She had been serious when she'd said she much preferred waking up to Starfire than that annoying clock.

* * *

Jinx dodged a punch and delivered one of her own to the training drone, smirking as it flew backwards and bounced off the wall. The padding that coated it served two purposes: protecting the hands of those that used it (after all, no matter how strong the teen villains were, metal beats bone every time), and providing a cushion to protect the drone should it find itself being beaten to a pummel by one of the Five… technically six. The Five weren't made of money, not yet. They couldn't afford to build new drones every day, for that would surely be how quickly they would need replacements.

She'd been at this for hours; she hadn't even stopped to grab lunch, for which her stomach continually berated her. She couldn't help herself. She just needed to punch something, and she didn't feel she was ready to stop. So she continued to kick, dip, and duck, deliver punches and drive the drone into a corner, beating it thoroughly until she bounced back a few feet to let it get its bearings.

The young sorceress had woken up in a mood most foul, probably because she knew she'd spent the whole night dreaming… but she couldn't remember a single thing she'd dreamed about. She only got the faintest notion that she'd been chasing something, and failed to catch it.

"Hey, take it easy. Keep this up and that thing's gonna explode or something." Out of the corner of her eyes, Jinx saw Seemore leaning against the wall, but then she had to duck down to avoid a mechanical left-hook. She answered with a swift kick to the drone's jaw, and the poor, abused hunk of metal hit the ground with a _clang_. It then proceeded to explode, smoke billowing out from within the shell of padding as bits of metal flew everywhere, one slicing Jinx's cheek as it rocketed by.

"OW! Shit…" Seemore rolled his eyes and immediately retrieved the First Aid kit.

"Told you so." Jinx hissed as he applied the disinfectant spray, and waved away the proffered band-aid, scowl still on her face. She didn't much care about the scratch; she was just miffed her training dummy was toast. Now how was she going to relieve her anger?

"Hey, don't look at me! I'm not about to fight you when your face screams, 'I'm pissed and I'm gonna rip your throat out'. It's your fault that thing's toast, and boy Gizmo's gonna be mad!"

Jinx opened her mouth to retort, but before she could Gizmo's voice rang out over the loudspeaker.

"No he's not! She's been going at that thing for days now, it's time was up. But it doesn't matter! Guess what's hidden over at Warehouse 16 on the West Port?" Jinx and Seemore looked at each other for a moment, then back at the speaker. "An entire collection of ancient crowns and jewels! Expensive royal crap, ripe for the picking! I'll be able to build an entire _army_ of those training drones!"

Jinx's lips twitched upward in a half-smile, while Seemore whistled and began to rub his hands together enthusiastically. "Sounds good to me! So when we gonna strike?"

"Tonight, barf-brain. They're shipping it out tomorrow morning, but since it's only been there for a few hours security stinks. They don't even know we know; they probably figure they don't need to defend something no one's gonna know to go after."

Jinx's smile bloomed into a full-on grin. "How convenient for us. Give me an hour to make myself presentable, even though I look better in sweats than those idiots do in their fancy-schmancy uniforms."

Soon the Hive Five were off, heading off to the warehouse some time after ten after Gizmo gave the rest of the guys a basic run-down of where the few security guards should be and what crates hosted their treasure. It was a quiet night; the stars were out and Jump City seemed to have called it quits for the day. For this Jinx was thankful; her head was still a little clouded and she was still in a bad mood, which had been noted by each of her teammates. They were all keeping their distance, a reaction that had been beaten into them by their leader whenever she was angry or wanted to be left alone.

When they arrived at the warehouse, Jinx barely stopped to catch her breath before striding right up to the front door. Gizmo had planned to dispatch the guards himself with a quick-dispersing knock-out gas, but she was feeling rather hands-on tonight. With a snap of her fingers, the massive doors collapsed in on themselves, and the wreckage fell to the ground with a crash. Sauntering in, she only faintly noted the threats made by the handful of security guards, eyes seeking out the crates Gizmo had said contained the collection of gems and jewelry. They'd been placed at the far end of the warehouse, well within sight of the entryway, which was both good and bad news.

The good news was transport would be a hell of a lot easier than they'd previously thought, but the bad news was it would be so much easier for reinforcements to put them in an awkward situation.

The sound of gunfire ceased her thought process as her instincts took over. Ducking down under the blasts, a quick casting sent all of their guns haywire. The devices sparked and flashed as the guards dropped them, and unfortunately when her boys moved in most of their owners were out before they hit the ground.

"Good job, boys."

"Yeah well, maybe if you'd waited like I told you to-" Jinx sent a threatening glance Gizmo's way as she brushed some rubble off her shoulder. When the young genius shut his mouth, she set off in the direction of the crates.

"Well, we got them didn't we? And the jewels are as good as ours; just get your transport bots ready." Another snap of her fingers, and the top of the first crate flew off, revealing the treasures within. Sticking her hand in blindly, the young villainess retrieved a beautiful emerald necklace. As she gazed into the sparkling, shining green gems, she gasped.

Suddenly she had the wildest notion that there had been a pair of green eyes in her dreams the previous night, and as that thought entered her head she heard a crash from behind her. Turning, she was furious to see one of Gizmo's transport bots being blown apart by Cyborg's sonic cannon.

The titans were here.

'_But wait…' _Jinx's head began to grow clear; the fog was lifting and her bad mood was quickly replaced by a sense of anxiousness and excitement. _'That means that she's here…'_

"Please put down the necklace, Jinx. It does not belong to you."

Turning back, she saw Starfire, floating above the crate; her eyes and hands alight with Starbolt energy. She had a no-nonsense look on her beautiful face, and Jinx smiled, chuckling as she did what she was told. Starfire apparently was not expecting her to listen, as her mouth dropped down in shock when Jinx laid the necklace back down in the box.

Jinx looked up at the young alien, bright pink eyes taking in every detail. The sounds of battle engaging between the titans and the Hive Five echoed around them, but Jinx ignored them as she placed a hand on her hip and cocked her head.

"Hey babe."

* * *

**Another chapter, done relatively quickly... for me at least. Honestly, that whole scene with Raven was not planned, it just happened.**

**Anyone else smell a love triangle?  
**

**Expect action and flirting in the next chapter, and the few after that. We won't get serious for a while yet, but when we do be prepared to love it just as much as you love the flirty, fun stuff! Hopefully...  
**

**Be sure to review! It literally makes me grin like an idiot.  
**


	4. Emeralds

**Unexpected: IV**

"Nice night, huh?"

Before Starfire had a chance to reply, Jinx aimed a wave of pink at the lantern that hung suspended on a cable above the alien's head. As the glass cracked and the gas within the lantern erupted into flame, Starfire quickly flew to the side, shielding her face as the tiny eruption fell down past her. The wreckage thankfully hit the ground beside the crate, leaving the treasures within untouched.

…or so she thought.

Starfire gasped in surprise as she saw that most of the gems that had been stored inside the crate had been removed within a matter of seconds. The larger pieces remained: a jeweled headdress and a handful of gaudy broaches. The rest of the storage unit was bare, and Starfire immediately began searching the warehouse for pink hair.

When she saw it ducking behind a tower of crates, her eyes came alight again with green and she growled as she set off in pursuit. Flying past Mammoth (who was having trouble wrestling with a green octopus) and then ducking under Gizmo (who was desperately trying to evade Robin's new heat-seeking birdarangs), Starfire rounded the structure and orientated herself with the floor. Eyes focused straight ahead, Starfire's eyebrows drew together as Jinx headed towards her.

Clearly the young sorceress was expecting the titan to come from behind, as her head was turned to the side and her gaze was cast over her shoulder. The girl's satisfied grin was a hint that Jinx clearly thought she had the upper hand.

_How wrong she is._

As green eyes began to wander over the other girl's figure (still waiting for Jinx to realize her escape route had been blocked), Starfire crossed her arms over her chest; Jinx was wearing everything she'd stolen. Several necklaces, including the emerald one she'd pretended to return to its proper place, were wrapped around her neck and there were rings on each finger. A beautiful belt that looked to be made up of thousands of separate silver links flashed in the low-light, its buckle wrought in the shape of a bird during flight. A scepter that was made of gold and decorated with deep purple gems was clutched in her left hand.

Starfire lowered her chin to her chest, focused in on the scepter, and shot it right out of Jinx's hand with her eye beams. As Jinx yelped in surprise and slid to a stop; the look of utter disbelief on her face made Starfire smile slightly as she cocked her head. It may be true that her fighting style was typically more direct, but was Jinx really so surprised that she'd been intercepted? She wasn't exactly hard to find; pink hair in a dark warehouse stood out like a Glourcar'nt beast in the Centari Moons!

Typically, both superheroes and super villains could only stay surprised for twenty seconds or less; nerves of steel were almost a necessity in this business. Jinx apparently had a limit of less than half that time, for the mischevious light returned to her eyes almost immediately and she smirked up at the young titan while gently flexing the hand that had held the scepter.

"What, not my style?"

"Stolen property is never anyone's 'style,' Jinx."

"Mm, I'd have to disagree with you there. I happen to think this belt looks fabulous on me!" The young villainess hooked her thumbs around the belt, struck a pose, and Starfire found herself silently agreeing with her. The silver did bring a certain light to Jinx's otherwise dark outfit and hugged her curves in a way that the young alien found most attracti-

_Inappropriate. Restrain yourself. _

Jinx would have been content to just stand there and watch Starfire's face turn several different shades of red (because it was incredibly adorable and made Jinx want to smile and blush like a love struck schoolgirl somewhere deep within her subconscious), but they _were_ in the middle of heist. From here she couldn't see how her boys were doing, but she cynically assumed they'd be needing her help right about now so it was time for the finishing blow.

She took the emerald necklace in her hand and grinned at her reflection in the gem's surface, before glancing up at Starfire and sighing dramatically.

"This, on the other hand…" The titan's eyes snapped back into focus and narrowed down at her; one brow went up when Jinx removed the necklace and cradled it in her hands. "This doesn't suit me at all. Green totally isn't my color. Maybe we should give this one to the little walking circus you call a teammate. Or, now that I think about it, this would look so much better around your neck. It compliments your eyes beautifully…" Finish that off with a flirtatious little wink, and Starfire was done.

It was clear the titan didn't know how to handle the situation; "flustered" would be putting it mildly. Her face was beet red and she wouldn't look Jinx in the eye, shoulders scrunched up to her ears. _God I love this plan, _she thought to herself.

Time to end this.

Gathering the necklace in her hands, Jinx searched the ceiling and saw that there was one sprinkler unit poised perfectly above the Tamaranean's head. A quick glance to the left showed that one of the cables that relayed power to the mechanism controlling the doors to the warehouse ran right alongside it. _Hope this doesn't hurt her too bad…_

"Here, catch!" Flinging the necklace at Starfire and sending a wave of pink energy immediately after it, Jinx watched as the titan scrambled to catch the necklace, then her face grew solemn as the sprinkler rained water down on the beautiful girl. _"_Sorry, babe…" Jinx whispered as she snapped her fingers. The cable snapped, sparks flying everywhere, and suddenly the cascade of water became a light show as the electricity was conducted through every drop. Starfire screamed in pain, dropping to the floor as she fell into unconsciousness almost immediately. The second Starfire hit the floor Jinx destroyed the sprinkler with another wave of pink energy and immediately went to the titan's side.

She stared at Starfire's still form, expression unreadable, as she waited for the sparks to dissipate. But the electricity continued to spark around her and when Jinx couldn't stand it anymore, she rolled Starfire onto her side, wincing as she herself was shocked. Checking to make sure the girl's breathing was even, she gently took the necklace from Starfire's hands, whispering "I'll be keeping this," as she pulled away. She moved to leave, but stopped, staring down at the titan for a moment, before gently stroking Starfire's cheek with her thumb. Before she could stop herself (not that she wanted to, really) she darted forward and laid a quick kiss on the redhead's forehead, lips tingling as the remnants of the electrocution hit them.

Standing back up, she draped the necklace around her neck once more and strode out from behind the wall of crates. Her eyes widened in surprise. Her team had already dispatched the titans and was moving the stock of jewels and antiques from the warehouse.

Robin lay in some kid of crater; she guessed Mammoth had settled the score with him. Cyborg was running in circles, surely hacked by Gizmo and left in some kind of temporary auto-pilot. Raven was wrapped up in the tentacles of an out-cold octopus, head lolled to the side as though unconscious.

"Wow, I'm impressed! Thought you'd have found some way to screw this up."

Gizmo turned away from his line of transport drones to smirk up at his leader. "What'd I tell ya? Alien girl's the real muscle; without her the titans are completely out of sync and completely out of luck."

"Gotta admit, I didn't think it would work! Props to you, Gizmo." The bald genius was glowing under the praise; little kids were like that, it was doubly so in megalomaniac kids with extreme intellect and sinister imaginations. He grinned proudly as his drones continued to work, but then his face fell and he glanced over at Jinx.

"You did take care of her, right? She's not gonna come flying out of nowhere and kick our butts, is she?"

Jinx smirked and patted his head, as was her habit whenever she was dealing with the hot-headed tech wizard. "Don't worry, I took care of her."

"What'd you do to Starfire!"

Six heads whipped towards the source of the enraged inquiry. Jinx scowled. Raven was (unfortunately) not unconscious; she was in fact very awake and very angry.

"Where is she? _Answer me!_" Jinx could feel the fear begin to come off the boys in waves, but she just scowled and approached the telepath confidently. Her eyes were narrowed down at the girl wrapped up in her teammate's tentacles in worry. Something in the darkest titan's voice bothered Jinx… she wasn't quite sure what.

"Worried about your poor little teammate, loser? Well that's too bad. Looks like you're not gonna be able to check up on her till Handsy there wakes up." She knelt down in front of Raven, meeting her gaze coolly and evenly. The telepath was seething with anger, practically baring her teeth at Jinx. There was pure, unbridled rage in her glare, but there was something else there too, underneath the fury. There was worry, which was understandable, but something else… some kind of desperation, and fear. Not for herself, but for Starfire.

Suddenly Jinx understood what it was in Raven's tone that set her teeth on edge. She began to seethe as well, her eyes filling with jealousy and anger. She stood up suddenly, and walked back towards the rest of the Five… one hand clutching the emerald necklace.

"Let's go, boys."

She didn't look back.

* * *

Once Beast Boy had woken up, Raven immediately went in search of Starfire. The moment the green tentacles had loosened their grip she was in the air, eyes searching this way and that. When she caught sight of sparks coming off of a broken power cord, she couldn't fly fast enough.

She passed over a wall of storage units and gasped. Starfire lay on her side, clearly unconscious, in a puddle of water. Glancing upward, she saw the proximity of the snapped power relay to a sprinkler unit that was still smoking. She quickly put two and two together and growled.

_Jinx… she'll pay for this._

Her feet had barely touched the ground before she was reaching to check Starfire's pulse; the telepath breathed a sigh of relief when she sensed a perfectly normal heart rate. Thankful for the Tamaranean's strong constitution and thick skin, Raven guessed the shock had merely knocked her out. She should wake up soon, in fact…

"Nn… Raven?"

"I'm here, Star. You're fine." A great weight disappeared from Raven's shoulders as those beautiful green eyes began to open and the girl shifted in her arms. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she helped her friend sit up, leaving a cautious and caring hand on her shoulder. She brushed the skin there lightly with the pad of her thumb as Starfire scrunched up her face and shook her head from side to side, shaking away any remnants of unconsciousness.

"Are… uhn… a-are the others unharmed?"

Raven felt bad for a moment that she hadn't checked on the others first, but only a moment. This was Starfire; she came before any of the others.

That particular thought, coupled with embarrassment at not having an answer, brought heat to the dark girl's cheeks and she quickly donned her hood. She stood and offered Starfire a hand; the other girl took it gratefully and when she stumbled slightly in her attempt to rise Raven reflexively wrapped her free arm around the other's waist. Once Starfire was steady, Raven withdrew her arm and stepped away, the fire in her cheeks burning hotter.

"They should be fine, but I think this is the worst beating we've ever gotten from the Hive, maybe even worse than the first time we fought them." Ascending into the air, she checked to make sure Starfire was following before flying back over the wall.

She sensed the relief radiating off of Starfire as the pair saw that the boys were already recovering from their ordeal. Beast Boy had elected to stay an octopus in order to restrain Cyborg, who was still trying to run in circles and was quite upset that Beast Boy was preventing him from doing so. Robin was sporting a few bruises, but seeing how focused he was on repairing Cyborg's systems he should be fine.

The two girls touched down to the ground and Starfire immediately moved to help Beast Boy; Raven watched her go.

…a few minutes went by before Cyborg regained control of himself. "Man I am so sick of that little punk hacking my systems!"

Robin rubbed his shoulder and frowned. "And now I know what stepping in front of speeding bus feels like."

Beast Boy was huddled on the floor, shivering, with a disgusted expression on his face. "I am never turning into an octopus again; I was stuck like that for so long I can still feel the tentacles!"

Raven hadn't taken her eyes off of Starfire; the young alien was silent and unsmiling… two things she _never_ was. The electricity must have really taken a lot out of her, and Raven resolved to bring her some tea later after they'd gone home. For now, they'd have to report that they'd failed to protect the collection and notify the museum.

_What a great night this has turned out to be._

* * *

**Okay, I'm relatively pleased with the way this one came out. At first, I had no idea what I was gonna write, but then I took a break, came back to it, and boom. It practically wrote itself.**

**Now, I'm asking nicely. Please review after you read this, even if you literally write one word. It really sucks when I log on and see that no one has reviewed, but a hundred something people have read it.**

**I'm not gonna stop writing, because I'm really happy with this and I figure there are a few of you out there that have reviewed, so I owe it to the both of us. Reviews will certainly make the chapters come faster, though...**

**Hint, hint. **


	5. Feelings

**Unexpected: V**

Starfire hadn't spoken for hours. This night could very well have been her personal best in terms of time spent without saying a word. She'd been silent as she'd restrained Cyborg so Robin could repair him, she'd been silent for the trip to the museum, and she'd been silent as Robin had reported their failure to the short, balding curator. She hadn't said a word when the curator expressed his deep (and false) concern for their well-being and assured them (sarcastically) that no blame would be placed with them.

The trip home was devoid of Tamaranean commentary as well.

Why wasn't she speaking? The answer was simple; Starfire was miserable. Positively, absolutely miserable. Nothing could change the fact that what had happened earlier that night had been completely her fault. She'd allowed Jinx to get inside her head and distract her; she'd let herself down and, more importantly, she'd let her team down.

_How could I have been so foolish?_ Starfire had known Jinx was a villain, how she'd allowed herself to be fooled by that false smile and those empty words…

"Star?" Starfire ceased her mental berating and saw Cyborg's reflection staring at her in the rear view mirror of the T-Car. "When we get back to the tower I want you to come to the infirmary so I can check you out, make sure everything's ok… maybe give you somethin' that'll help ya sleep if you need it."

Starfire merely replied with an unintelligible noise of affirmation then turned to stare out the window. The buildings began to blur together as the Tamaranean's thoughts again returned to her defeat earlier that night.

She was obviously attracted to the sorceress (for that she could not be blamed) and maybe saving Jinx's life the day before had lead to her believe the two shared some kind of understanding. As tonight had shown, Jinx clearly didn't feel the same; she'd had no qualms about using the titan's trusting nature against her or causing her physical harm. It was almost as if Jinx had come prepared to exploit the Tamaranean's one fatal flaw: her heart.

_How naïve I was. _She should have been furious, outraged, embarrassed… but she only felt pain.

Because of her an entire collection of priceless gems and artifacts was being slowly circulated through Jump City's black market, the Hive Five would be living the high-life for weeks, and the thing that weighed most heavily on her heart… her teammates had been hurt. Starfire wasn't worried about herself, she'd be sore for a little while, but her pain couldn't compare with Robin's bruised ribs or Beast Boy's new phobia of tentacles.

She'd been "played," as they called it here on earth, and Jinx hadn't been the first. Blackfire had often taken advantage of her in a similar manner when they were younger and when Terra had become Slade's apprentice she'd used the history between Starfire and herself to draw the titan in, then hit her where it hurt. Physically, and emotionally.

Starfire was sick of it. Sometimes she wished she could just let her inner savage out and pay back each attack on her body, heart and mind tenfold… but she couldn't. She wouldn't allow herself to.

When they arrived back at the tower, Starfire followed Cyborg to the infirmary in a haze, unaware of the concerned looks her teammates were giving her. She hopped up onto the examination table and allowed the team's self-appointed medic to poke and prod, check her heart rate, and test her limbs for stiffness or swelling. When all of that was done, he squatted down in front of her and held out a single finger.

"I'm gonna do the concussion test now, and then you're done. Just follow my finger." Green eyes followed the metal appendage as it swiveled back and forth, when all of a sudden a thought struck her.

"Cyborg, you've been close to the Hive… lived among them… what are they like?"

Cyborg cocked his human brow and looked at her for a moment before smiling understandingly. "Look Star, I know that you think what happened tonight was your fault, but it wasn't." He held up his hand to silence her when she moved to protest, and chuckled as he shook his head. "But I know you're not gonna feel the same, so I'll talk. Where to start…"

The metal man moved to the supply cabinet to put away his tools (nothing big or dangerous people, just a stethoscope and a reflex hammer) and think for a moment, surely deciding what to say. Starfire waited patiently.

"Mammoth isn't much more than a walking muscle with a half-baked sense of humor. If there ever was a typical jock in the world of super villains, it'd be him. However the Hive managed to kick our butts tonight, it wasn't his idea. Gizmo is smart, sure, but he's still just twelve. Dude gets his baby-boxers in a bunch way too easily. And once you take care of his tech, he's no threat. I didn't really get too close to the other guys, but I doubt they're smart enough to cook up any kind of master plan. 'Specially the red-neck."

"And… Jinx?" Starfire tried to keep her voice neutral, but she wasn't the best actress. Thankfully, Cyborg didn't seem to notice the anxious undertone to her words. The hulking titan's shoulders slumped as he sighed before beginning his monologue.

"Ah, Jinx. She's different from the guys, anyone can see that. But just how different is another story. At first, I thought she was… y'know, like a woman in a man's world. Tryin' to be tough, putting up a front to seem stronger than she really was, tryin' to get respect. Tryin' to prove herself. But that was just day one. After that, well she kinda proved me wrong at every turn. She didn't really have to prove anything; the other student's were genuinely scared of her, even Gizmo and Mammoth! When she was in the hallway, people got out of her way. And then I saw her fight, real up-close and personal… and I saw why."

Starfire's head tilted to the side as she watched Cyborg's face fall. He seemed sad, having to tell her this, but she couldn't fathom why. She faintly remembered Cyborg telling them the Hive Academy had had a dance, and that Jinx had been his date. Could he have had feelings for the sorceress? The thought made her faintly uncomfortable… despite all that Jinx had done to her Starfire still found herself thinking fondly of the pink-haired sorceress. If she'd been lying in a hospital bed with nerve damage and horrible burns like any normal human would have been after being shocked so severely this probably wouldn't have been the case. However, Tamaraneans were nigh-indestructible… and they were very quick to lay blame with themselves rather than with others.

As odd as it may seem, Starfire blamed herself for _falling_ for Jinx's subterfuge, rather than being furious with Jinx for employing such a strategy. In her eyes her naïveté had been her downfall, not any action taken on Jinx's part, no matter how devious.

"Jinx loves fighting. She loves winning; she loves being in control. It gives her some kinda sick satisfaction… using her powers to come out on top, making other people get down on their knees and beg for mercy. Every time we were combat-tested, whether it was on the obstacle course or against other students, she had this crazy, happy light in her eyes that just screamed 'This is so much fun!' and I have to be honest, it scared me."

"So she's truly evil… I had thought perhaps-"

"I don't know about that. When you guys came to get me and we turned the tables on Brother Blood… remember when the building started to collapse? I was tryin' to get to you guys so we could leave when I saw her. She had this real lonely look in her eyes, and she said 'You coulda been one of us,' like she couldn't believe I didn't want to stay with them. Evil people don't do stuff like that. Her heart might be in the wrong place… but hey. We've seen Raven do some pretty scary stuff when she gets angry, right? And Beast Boy's got that inner beast thing going on; I figure we've all got some skeletons in the closet. People say actions speak louder than words, but sometimes you have to ignore both and go with what you feel."

With that, Cyborg stood before Starfire again and held out a green lollipop. Smiling as he saw the Tamaranean's eyes light up, he handed it to her and was relieved to see the slightest of smile's grace her features. Green Apple was her favorite flavor, after all.

"Do you have feelings for her?"

Starfire stared up at him curiously and with the lollipop clutched in her hand she looked like a little kid; Cyborg couldn't contain his laughter.

"What, for Jinx? No way! There's no way I could handle that girl; I'm 'high maintenance' enough as it is, the last thing I need is a girlfriend with attention issues!"

His laughter only increased at the stupefied look on his teammate's face. He held out a hand and helped her off the table, then shooed her out the door. "Finish that sucker and go take a nap or something. You'll be feelin' that shock sooner or later, and it'd be better to sleep through the soreness. We need everyone to be in tip top shape so we can teach the Hive Five a lesson they won't be forgetting any time soon!"

* * *

Raven gripped the sides of the tray and carefully lifted the two steaming mugs of tea off the counter. Ten minutes ago Cyborg had barged into the living room and challenged the other boys to a GameStation tournament, clearly an attempt to get their minds off their defeat. Robin may have been their leader, but Cyborg was definitely the Papa Bear on the team. He always knew what to do when the other titans were down… but considering how often he lost his temper or got distracted maybe the title of "Protective Older Brother" would suit him better.

Anyway, Cyborg's return to the common room signaled the end of Starfire's check-up, so Raven had immediately set to work on preparing a pot of the Tamaranean's favorite tea: jasmine. When Raven had first found out she'd been surprised. She'd expected the bubbly titan to name some kind of bright, fruity, aromatic blend, something that suited her personality. That such a refined, calming tea would be Starfire's favorite was just proof that there was more to her best friend than what the surface might project. Plus, the leaves she preferred were of the highest quality; Raven often found herself guilty of raiding Starfire's private store, though she was always sure to replace what she took.

Because the Tamaranean princess had not yet made an appearance, Raven guessed she'd been confined to her room for the night. She headed towards the sliding doors, blushing slightly under Cyborg's knowing smile. It had become clear to Raven within the past few days that he was aware of her feelings, despite all her attempts to keep them in check. Knowing that he approved though brought a small, guilty smile to her face.

She set off towards Starfire's room, marveling at how far she'd come since joining the titans. When they'd first met she'd been a shy, nervous girl terrified of her own powers, and things hadn't much changed by the time the team had become official. She'd gone from being a wallflower to just being a wall, trying to project an aura of disinterest and detachment.

That, admittedly, hadn't lasted long. The titans had each wormed their way into the telepath's heart through use of one tactic or another: Beast Boy through his childish antics, Cyborg through his superior emotional maturity (questionable though it may be), Robin through his unshakeable confidence, and then Starfire… with her unrelenting smile and quiet determination.

When Raven had first become a titan, she'd never imagined that one day she'd be strolling through the tower with a goofy smile on her face, bringing tea to the one person in the world she felt closest too. She couldn't have imagined feeling this level of closeness and security, either. She knew she could go to Starfire with anything and she'd never be turned away…

Well, almost anything.

But Raven wasn't sure she wanted to cross that bridge just yet. She wasn't ready.

When she balanced the tray on one hand and knocked gently on Starfire's door, she was expecting maybe having to wait a moment for the other girl to wake up. But when a full sixty seconds went by with no answer she frowned. If there was no answer, then Starfire wasn't in. She always answered the door, no matter what she was doing. So she was either taking a shower, which seemed unlikely considering she'd been used as a conductor just a few hours ago, or…

_The roof._

Raven looked at the ceiling for a moment before phasing both herself and the tea through several floors of the tower; when she found herself at the stairway that led to the roof she stopped. If Starfire was meditating, it would have been rude to just appear beside her and break her concentration. Such an action probably would have scared her anyway, and Raven had seen Robin fly across the living room far too many times to risk incurring the wrath of Tamaranean reflexes.

She ascended the stairs slowly, keeping the tray balanced as she climbed. She paused at the door, hand extended halfway to the knob.

_What do I do if she's meditating? Should I join her? Or will she want to be left alone? I can't just leave a mug of tea on the rooftop… but I can't just stand there and wait for her to finish…_

Her hand found the handle before she'd decided on a backup plan, and before she could stop herself she was stepping out onto the rooftop. Turns out she didn't have to worry about breaking Starfire's concentration, for the Tamaranean wasn't even meditating. What she _was_ doing however had Raven even more worried.

The other girl was seated on the very edge of the roof, her back to Raven. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her arms folded on top of them. Raven frowned; she'd rarely ever seen Starfire act this way. It was hard to imagine the alien was smiling as she looked out over the water, but it was almost impossible to picture an unsmiling Starfire. It was like trying to imagine what Beast Boy would look like if he wasn't green, or trying to guess what color Robin's eyes were!

Raven approached swiftly, intent on getting to the bottom of this. She tested the air surrounding her fellow titan with her empath abilities and Raven immediately sensed confusion, sadness, and disappointment…

"Why do you keep blaming yourself?"

Starfire turned to look at her and Raven was shocked by the intensity in the other's gaze. The emerald light that always seemed to shine from within them seemed to be casting a different kind of glow: instead of the usual happy twinkle, her eyes cast this contemplative shimmer that Raven had never seen before. Clearly Starfire had been deep in thought, and still was even though she'd tried to give Raven her undivided attention.

"Friend Raven, what brings you here?"

One of the mugs lifted off the tray and floated down to her; Starfire blinked once before accepting it.

"You did. The fact that you're not smiling did."

Starfire inhaled deeply before sipping the tea. The approving noise she made was Raven's signal to sit down beside her, legs crossed Indian style. She gripped her own mug in her right hand and set the tray down beside her with her left.

The two sat in silence for a while, sipping their tea and watching the moon travel across the sky. Raven looked at her best friend out of the corner of her eye, taking in every detail of her profile as best she could in the moonlight.

"I blame myself," Raven jumped when Starfire first spoke. The alien sent her an apologetic half-smile before continuing, "Because I allowed myself to be taken advantage of yet again. It seems that no matter how many times it happens, I never learn. I am still so trusting, so willing to believe what people tell me. No… this is not right. I have learned. But it seems though I will never do anything about it… I will still let people 'walk all over me,' as you say here on earth."

Starfire's words brought a frown to Raven's face. What could she possibly be talking about? Starfire didn't let people walk all over her... but that wasn't the right thing to say. If the alien believed it was so, then there was no disagreeing with her. She could be incredibly stubborn in that respect.

"Well… why do you think it keeps happening? And… why can't you do anything about it? If you think there's something you want to change about yourself, what's stopping you?"

Starfire's response was immediate.

"You remember Val-Yor?"

Raven did remember Val-Yor. The mere thought of him made Raven's blood boil… how dare he call Starfire useless! And even after she'd saved his sorry ass… he was lucky Raven hadn't gotten a chance to have her way with him. He'd have been begging at Starfire's feet for forgiveness.

"What does he have to do with this?"

"It's not so much Val-Yor himself as it is what he believed. His is not the only people that think Tamaraneans worthless; our reputation of savagery has spread throughout much of the galaxy. Everywhere we go, we must be careful. One angry word, one violent action, and it does not matter what we do afterwards. We are branded savages and we are banished from the planet, forbidden from ever returning."

"So… wait. Are you saying you act like a pushover, because you're afraid of what might happen if you fight back?"

Starfire smiled sadly, her eyes downcast. "It may sound silly to you, Friend Raven… but yes. Here, my strength and powers are accepted because I use them to protect people. If you'll recall, this was not the case when I first arrived here on earth."

Raven couldn't help but cringe as she remembered the destruction Starfire had wrought when she'd fought her way off of the Gordanian ship and crash landed on earth. She'd nearly destroyed the neighborhood in her desperate attempt to free her hands from those cuffs; her eyes had been alight with green fury the entire time and rage had radiated from her body.

She had been… scary.

"That is what each Tamaranean is at heart… I wear my smile for the sake of my people. It is my duty as a member of the royal family to improve our image wherever we can, and preserve it where it stands well."

"But Blackfire-"

"My sister does not care for anyone but herself. But this is not her fault; I realized this not long after she was banished. She may not seem so to you, but she is truly insecure at heart; she went through much as a child because of her odd coloring… not many Tamaraneans differ physically from the features I myself possess. Because she was bullied as a child she feels she must overcompensate by being stronger, faster, smarter, wealthier and worldlier than any other. She feels she does not owe anything to my people, who cared not for what she felt or how much she hurt."

Uncomfortable silence settled between the two, but it was swept away in moments.

"…Did you really think we'd send you away for protecting yourself?" She ignored the questioning look Starfire gave her; she was angry. No, furious. How could Starfire think that her friends would banish her just because she had a wild side? "We're you're friends Starfire, and in case you hadn't noticed, we all have dark sides! Of all people_ I _should know what it's like to be hated because of what you are! You don't have to worry about scaring us or scaring the people, you're practically an angel regardless of your smile, and regardless of what other aliens think I know that no race could be bad if you embody everything that they are!"

She stared into those emerald green eyes, wide with shock now, and even though she was already gasping for breath she continued. "I know for a fact that we would never send you away or blame you for fighting back, and you shouldn't care about what other people think because they don't know you and they don't know how amazing you are! Val-Yor got a glimpse, but he was too proud to admit what an amazing person you are, too proud to admit that a race other than his own could be just as great. That's what it is, Starfire, jealousy! They're jealous of how free-spirited, powerful, and wonderful your people are! And I, Raven of Azarath, am honored to fight by your side… and I am blessed to have you as a friend. I truly am."

When she was done she had to heave to get air back in her lungs, and she found that sometime during her rant she'd stood up. Starfire stared up at her, and Raven's heart leapt up into her throat when she saw the other girl was crying. Silent tears were cascading down her face, carving out paths of moonlight across her cheeks.

"Oh, Star… I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

But suddenly she was in the air and all the oxygen she'd managed to gather was squeezed from her lungs. Strong arms were wrapped around her, and the force of the Tamaranean's lunge had forced them at least three feet off the ground. Raven hesitated for only a moment before hugging back as fiercely as she could, letting her dearest, closest friend cry her heart out on her shoulder.

When Starfire began to descend Raven smiled, knowing Starfire had regained control of herself. When their feet touched back down onto the roof she stared up into those beautiful eyes and without even thinking about it her hands came up to cradle the Tamaranean's head, thumbs brushing away the tears that remained.

"Promise me that the next time someone crosses you, you'll let them have it."

Starfire only smiled.

"I promise, Raven."

* * *

_Why am I still awake?_ All the jewels had been safely stored and the calls had been made; several deals had been struck with other villains in need of some priceless artifacts and within the week the Hive Five would have cash out the wazoo. Only two items had not been sold, and for good reason: the silver belt that had earned Jinx some very flattering looks from Starfire and the necklace that cast the same emerald sheen as said alien's Starbolt energy.

Jinx groaned as she rolled over. Who was she kidding? She knew damn well what it was that was keeping her awake, or rather… who it was.

When the Five had returned home she'd immediately wanted to run back to the warehouse and make sure Starfire was alright. Saying she regretted what she'd done would be the understatement of the century. The titan's shriek of pain and the sound of the Tamaranean's unconscious body hitting the floor were constantly replaying in the sorceress' head, along with the vicious, protective voice of Raven.

Thinking of Raven made her fists clench involuntarily and Jinx quite literally wanted to growl. How dare that pathetic excuse for a sorceress set her sights on someone like Starfire! The day Raven deserved someone that amazing was the day Jinx would announce her engagement to Gizmo.

Jinx sighed suddenly as the ridiculousness of her thoughts hit her. "Like I'm any better… at least _she_ gets to see her every day. Ugh, and now she's probably comforting her! Playing nurse… oh God this sucks."

Tonight she could have very well ruined any shot she'd had at being with Starfire… admittedly it was still only slightly more than a crush, but the teenage mind is a place of extremes. The more she thought about it, the more miserable she became.

How was she going to deal with the guys? It was clear she couldn't keep hurting Starfire, not if this was how she'd feel after every battle. But they loved this new plan; it made the fighting so much easier and tonight's score was proof that it had worked flawlessly so far. She couldn't tell them she was falling for the titan: one because she wasn't even sure of what she was feeling and two, because they'd laugh right in her face. Then she'd have to deal with Seemore's "I told you so" eye and rebuild their hard-earned respect for her from scratch. And that just wouldn't do.

She rolled back over and eyed the silver belt.

"Maybe I'll just have to start small…"

* * *

**Again, I'm fairly happy with this one. I think this is the longest chapter so far, but I had a lot to write.**

**I had to give Starfire some inner strength, and I wanted to explore the differences between Starfire and her sister; what I wrote is in my opinion a very valid reason for their very different attitudes. Plus, I really do think that Starfire holds herself back; she's only ever really kickass when she's fighting a monster. This makes sense I guess for the show, but this is fanfiction. I'm just gonna run with it!  
**

**Reviews make a fella very happy.  
**


	6. Fate's Game

**Unexpected: VI**_  
_

_I wonder if any of these would do for a first date…_

Jinx sorted through the last remaining clothing rack in the store; she'd just gotten through destroying all the others, finding the merchandise either tacky or out of date. This last one looked promising though; it held an assortment of cute, stylish jackets with different cuts, sleeve lengths, and adornments. She grinned as she plucked one from the rack and held it up against her. _This one might work…_

The jacket she'd picked out was simple in design but brilliantly made. To be honest, it was the most stylish leather jacket she'd ever seen… though it wasn't quite leather. While retaining the smooth, sheen qualities of leather this material was softer and more easily tailored; the form fitting cut around the waist attested to that. The sleeves were made to be rolled up, too. Simple silver trimmings subconsciously brought to mind the appraising looks Starfire had given her during their last altercation, when she'd modeled the belt. Warmth rose in her cheeks as she admired the curving silver designs that edged the sleeves and collar, thinking of her crush.

She couldn't wait for the titans to show up. Actually, she couldn't care less about the other titans; she just wanted to see Starfire.

Last night, she'd taken the first of several small steps she'd planned in order to get closer to the beautiful titan before making her move. A very special, very sentimental apology had been sent to Titan Tower with Starfire's name on it, and nothing else. It had been a very heartfelt gift In Jinx's opinion, and hopefully Starfire would be able to see the sincerity in her actions. No, Jinx was (almost) positive she would. The other girl wasn't stupid, after all. Jinx didn't go for stupid girls. Too… stupid.

Starfire would definitely come to the fight ready to forgive and forget. How could she not? Everything she'd seen and heard of the titan told her that Starfire wasn't one to hold grudges, even against villains. This was part of the problem; past experience had taught Jinx that all heroes had an inkling of darkness within them. Whether it was excessive pride, a sadistic pleasure found in victory, or extreme vanity, the difference between any hero and the opponent they faced often seemed to be no more than which side of the line called "order" they claimed to stand on.

But not Starfire. Starfire was not vain and she did not gloat over her victories. In fact, the beautiful titan never seemed to smile until the fighting was over, and that was only if her teammates hadn't been seriously hurt. She was someone that just genuinely wanted to protect her friends and do what she felt was right.

While Jinx couldn't really understand it, she sure as hell respected it. After all, genuine _anything _was a rare find in today's society.

"Find something you like, Jinx?"

Her head still buzzing with thoughts of Starfire, the young sorceress was too distracted to register whose voice it was as she turned, still holding the jacket against herself. Extending a sleeve to check its length, she spoke, a musing tone to her voice.

"Mm, kinda. I've gotten so used to the utter lack of style in this city, it's hard to believe I'd find anything I'd actually consider wearing."

Finally looking up, she immediately wished she hadn't.

_Shit._

The titans were here. Unfortunately, they'd already split up. Raven floated silently above her, alone, and while normally this would get Jinx excited for a fight that meant the other titans would be dealing with the boys. Now she'd have to deal with Raven before she could get to Starfire, and she'd have to do it fast, otherwise the titans would kick their butts. No matter what she felt for Starfire, getting her butt kicked was not an option. _Not if I can help it, at least._

She stared sourly at the empath for a moment before smirking. Placing the jacket back on the rack, Jinx breathed in deeply, holding it for a moment before letting it out with a sigh.

"So, how's Starfire?"

She could feel the other girl's sneer, and her teeth clenched reflexively. She had to force herself from returning it; had to keep up appearances, after all. As far as Raven knew, Jinx was just toying with her teammate, using her trusting nature against her. One might say that _had_ been her plan, but things were different now.

After last night, the sorceress didn't know if she'd have it in her to ever hurt the titan again.

"She's fine. Better than fine, actually."

Pink eyes narrowed; what was that superior lilt in the telepath's voice? It was almost as though Raven knew something Jinx didn't. She forced her smirk to stretch wider, when all she really wanted to do was tear the Goth out of the air and beat her till she let Jinx in on her little secret… or till she was senseless. Whichever came first.

"Oh? And why's that?"

"None of your business, really." Jinx bared her teeth in a snarl and let loose several consecutive hexes, mood worsening with each blast Raven dodged. She ducked to avoid a flying light fixture coated in black energy and charged forward, aiming to bring the other girl down. Raven was hovering just within reach, so Jinx leapt up into a spinning kick but felt the desire to scream in frustration when her target became an intangible black shroud. The momentum of her kick sent her clean through and she slid to a stop not too far from the entrance to the store.

The sounds of fighting reached her ears and she could see her teammates struggling to hold off the titans. She immediately looked for Starfire, heart rate increasing as time ticked on and she didn't see her. She instead saw Robin thrashing Kyd Wykkyd, a green bull charging after Mammoth, Billy Numerous tied to a bench by some kind of distorted metal pole, and Seemore locked in a shootout with Cyborg. Finally she saw Starfire, and her heart skipped a beat. Her crush was engaged in an aerial battle with Gizmo; starbolts flew everywhere and made fireworks above everyone's heads as they collided with Gizmo's rockets. The boy genius himself was trying every evasive maneuver he knew to get away, but Starfire kept right on him, eyes alight.

Jinx smiled and glanced over her shoulder at Raven. The empath's hands were up and pulsing with black, as were the two mangled clothing racks that hovered on either side of her.

"Well if you won't tell me, guess I'll just have to find out from her!" She took off, sprinting for the entrance to the store, dodging the first rack as it flew straight for her then using the second one as a springboard when it smashed into the ground a few feet in front of her. Vaulting over Mammoth and Beast Boy, who were now wrestling with each other (Beast Boy had assumed the shape of a massive, green gorilla), she continued on towards her target.

She couldn't take her eyes off of Starfire; the grace and speed with which she dodged the rockets and the fierceness in her eyes as she destroyed them one by one was almost overwhelming. How it had taken the sorceress this long to realize how truly enchanting the other girl was… well it was beyond her.

"Starfire, look out!"

What was meant as a warning ended up becoming a distraction; Jinx could only surmise that one of the titans had seen her heading straight for Starfire and assumed she was going to help Gizmo take her down. Whichever titan it was had probably hoped to give Starfire a heads up so she could catch the double assault in time; unfortunately there was one rocket too many left undestroyed.

When Starfire turned to look in the direction the warning had come from, that one rocket blasted her out of the air in a very loud burst of smoke and light. Jinx slid to stop, wincing when Starfire hit the ground. She rolled her eyes when she heard Gizmo's cry of victory and immediately jogged over to where Starfire had crash-landed.

The titan lay sprawled on her back, face wrought in a pained grimace. One eye cracked open a fraction, unfocused and dazed. Jinx held out a hand, the slightest of smiles tugging at her mouth.

"Need a hand, babe?"

The other eye opened and Jinx was graced with a still slightly clouded, groggy stare of emerald green. Starfire's face loosened, the pain momentarily forgotten. Jinx was already working this out in her head; Starfire would take her hand, they'd stare deeply into each other's eyes, Jinx would smile and Starfire would smile, then Starfire would tell her all was forgiven… maybe they'd hug…

The suspense was killing her. Why was Starfire still just laying there? Head tilting subconsciously, Jinx saw that those emerald eyes were still clouded, still unfocused. Had she been hurt worse than Jinx had originally thought?

"What's-" Before she could finish, green eyes snapped back into focus, glaring with ferocity and anger; all of a sudden there was a flash of green and Jinx was flying in the opposite direction.

She hit the ground hard, and when she slid to stop her face was stuck between wanting to screw together in pain and hang slack-jawed in shock.

_What the…? _That wasn't supposed to happen. Starfire wasn't supposed to be mad, she was supposed to forgive her. Hadn't she gotten the apology gift? She had to have gotten it, it'd been sent out last night!

Her screwed shut in pain and Jinx grit her teeth, a low moan escaping her. She couldn't recall ever being starbolt'd before… it hurt. Like, a lot. She felt like she'd been hit with the sharp part of a hammer, and she felt something warm trickling down by her temple. When she put a tentative hand to the warmth, she flinched away at the feeling of what she knew was blood. The red staining her fingertips just proved her right.

She wanted to shake her head to clear the fog, but something told her she'd see stars if she did so. She settled for simply rising up onto her elbows and letting her head loll to the side. Eyes searching for Starfire, misery welled up in her chest at the sight of Raven helping Starfire to her feet. Where had she gone wrong? Had she really, truly blown it last night? Forever?

Whether the tears welling up at the corners of her eyes were caused from pain or heartbreak was anyone's guess.

When Mammoth came up to her, bruised and bloody, she allowed herself to be carried away from the fight. The boys followed silently behind, the thrill of Gizmo's tiny victory having quickly been quashed by a swift counterattack from the other titans. There wasn't a single one of them that wasn't torn up or bruised; the titans had certainly gotten their revenge for last night.

The last thing Jinx saw before she passed out was Starfire, laughing. With Raven. She looked… happy. They both did.

_Dammit…_

* * *

The titans returned home practically glowing with pride and retribution. Starfire was the proudest, having faced Jinx and prevailed, not even giving the other girl a chance to trick her. She'd really let loose tonight, not caring how much pain the Hive Five suffered; it was nothing compared to the pain and disappointment her friends had gone through the night before.

She smiled at Raven, who was flying silently alongside her. It was only through her friend's words and reassurance that Starfire felt confident enough to handle herself as she had today: fierce and unshakeable. To be honest, she'd feared facing Jinx that day; some part of her still wished that the two of them might reach an understanding. That small part of her remembered what Cyborg had said about the other girl, her being hard to reach but not truly evil.

"I think it's fair to say Cyborg will be throwing a party. You know how psyched he was about settling the score."

Starfire nodded as the two of them dropped down to the entrance of the tower. "Indeed. I suspect there will be an argument over what will be served at this event."

Starfire giggled when Raven groaned. "Oh yeah, another battle royale between meat and fake meat. Joy."

The two entered the tower and walked to the living room together. The boys were already there, enjoying themselves. Robin was on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table. Cyborg and Beast Boy were in the kitchen; Beast Boy held Solo cups in one hand and a liter of soda in the other. Cyborg, holding a pizza menu, waved the girls over.

"Star, there was a package for you! I left it outside your room. Rae, you need to help me convince this poor boy we can order multiple pizzas, veggie _and_ meat, without the world exploding!"

Starfire laughed at her friend's antics and stopped at the fridge for a moment to get a bottle of mustard before heading to her room. Sticking a bendy straw she'd picked up in the top, she sucked greedily at the robust, delightful beverage. The Tamaranean palette was very diverse; though Starfire typically preferred sweeter tastes, mustard was just one of many unique tastes she enjoyed.

Her eyebrows went up in surprise when she saw a box set on the floor in front of her room. That must have been the package Cyborg was talking about. Squatting down, she set the bottle of mustard on the floor and picked up the box. It was made of cardboard, at least… that was what she thought it was called, and of medium size. She rested it against her hip to free a hand for her mustard and headed inside. Depositing the box on her bed, she went to her closet to get more suitable night-wear. Once she'd changed into a pair of purple Ball-in-the-Basket shorts and a loose grey sleeveless top, she settled on her bed to see what was inside.

Using the tiniest bit of Starbolt energy to cleanly slice through the tape, she hesitated for a moment before slowly pulling open the top flaps.

What she saw made her gasp.

There were only two things in the box. Both fell out when Starfire took the box in her hands and twisted it all about, looking for some kind of return address or anything that would have given away where it had come from. She knew exactly who had sent it, but she wanted some kind of confirmation, some sort of proof that it really was who she thought it was. But the box only had her name written on it, in a carefully stenciled print.

Setting the box down, she laid a hand on the silver belt that Jinx had stolen the night before. The one with the beautiful buckle wrought in the shape of a bird.

"Why?" She picked it up in one hand, thumb running along the cool metal. In the other, she picked up the card that had come with it. It was a simple, small black card: the kind that came attached to gift bags. She flipped it open with one fine finger, and her heart hung heavy in her chest when she read it.

'I'm sorry.' The hand was short and curved, but the card was not signed. Still, it didn't need a signature.

Only Jinx could have sent this.

Starfire didn't know what to think. She was sad, but she wasn't sure who for. Jinx had deceived her, hurt her… but she had apologized. And this package had been waiting for her when the titans had arrived back at the tower, so there was no way Jinx could have sent it today. That meant it had been sent last night… right after the fight.

_Oh Jinx… _She remembered the flash of surprise on Jinx's face before Starfire had blasted her, and she remembered seeing the sorceress clutched in Mammoth's arms, unable to leave the fight on her own two feet. Probably dizzy… Starfire doubted it had been an easy flight for the pink haired beauty.

Now she felt rather poorly about how she'd acted today, but at the same time she thought that maybe this made them even. Well, maybe after _she _apologized they'd be even.

Either way, she needed to get this belt back to the museum.

* * *

**For some reason this chapter was incredibly difficult to write. It came in bits and pieces, and I'm fairly sure I'll be revising it soon.**

**Review! Please! If I can just get maybe 1 out of every 10 people to read this to review it, I'd be happy.  
**

**Sticks, out.  
**


	7. Decision Made

**Unexpected: VII**

Starfire was flying across the night sky in a state of pure ecstasy, the happy little grin on her face highlighted by the silver shimmer of the moon and stars. Never mind that the night was getting chilly as the sun moved farther and farther away to light up other parts of the world, nothing could bring her down. The alien princess hadn't felt this giddy in a long time!

She'd just returned the stolen (then promptly returned) silver belt, but this wasn't why she was so happy. Not completely, at least.

_Raven is going to be so proud!_

When she'd arrived at the museum, alone (she wasn't sure her friends would have seen anything but bad intentions in Jinx's little surprise so she'd left without a word to anyone), she'd just managed to catch the curator as he was leaving the museum.

Starfire had been so excited to return the belt; surely the short, bald little man would be just as excited to see the belt returned to its proper place. So when the tiny man had looked up at her over the rim of his glasses with one eyebrow raised, lips pursed, she'd felt her eyes go wide with shock.

"Well, how wonderful. One of the, ah… many pieces stolen from this fine establishment. I pray that the _rest_ of the collection may be returned, as this piece has been, just as… swiftly." Condescension laced every word, and the angry little light in his beady eyes did not diminish even as the corners of his mouth had twitched upwards in a smile so obviously fake. Starfire's face had fallen in disappointment.

"Well, if you would…" His pudgy little hand had extended towards the belt, still held in Starfire's hands. But before he could grab it, the titan's hands retracted to hold the belt just out of reach. The curator had been still for a moment, hand still extended. He had the strangest notion that he shouldn't speak… instead his gaze drifted upwards slowly, and when his eyes had met the Tamaranean's a shiver had gone down his spine.

Starfire had allowed only the slightest amount of starbolt energy light up her gaze; her pupils were still clearly visible, narrowed down at the old man. Her smile though had remained sweet, sickeningly so, as had her words. "It is indeed unfortunate that your collection was taken, though I _know_ you place no blame with the titans. My teammates and I are trying our best to see it safely returned… however, if you are not satisfied with our results and would be more willing to express your gratitude when the exhibition is returned in full, I would be more than happy to _keep_ this fine piece. Until the rest of the collection is found, of course…"

Whether it was the hidden threat in the girl's words, the eerie green glow in her eyes, or even something as simple as her height advantage, Starfire had succeeded in scaring the little man half to death. Mentally cheering herself, she had continued smiling sweetly as she'd handed over the belt to the curator, who'd become very meek and apologetic.

Starfire couldn't recall ever having been less than cordial to a human being since the titans had first formed; admittedly, threatening the irritating little man had been a lot more fun than she'd expected. A far more pleasant experience than submitting to his sarcasm and condescension would have been.

So now, as she returned home as swiftly as she could (she was looking forward to Cyborg's makeshift victory party) she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Out of nowhere however, the Tamaranean felt that she was being watched. Slowing to a stop so that she remained stationary in the air, floating silently above the city lights and sounds, she tried to discern a direction. She tried to pinpoint where exactly this feeling was coming from; oddly enough she didn't feel at all threatened, nor did the notion that someone was watching her bother her as nearly as much as it should have.

A few moments passed and Starfire could see nothing, feel nothing, or sense anything that would lead her to the source of the strange sense of security that had overcome her.

"Hm…" Glancing upwards at the full moon, she smiled and shrugged before setting off for home again.

* * *

Returning to the lair was painful for Jinx in so many ways. Her head was pounding, blood had stained her favorite top, and her heart was in utter turmoil.

_I don't get it… Starfire had to have gotten the belt… how could she not forgive me? Did I really take things too far last night? Did I really hurt her? I guess… I guess I took that smile for granted. Assuming she would just forgive and forget… thinking about it, _I_ wouldn't forgive me, either. It was stupid of me to assume a dumb _'Sorry'_ would just smooth things over…_

Jinx turned to hide her face in Mammoth's chest as a single tear dripped down her cheek, falling down past the blood that had dried all along the side of her head.

_I'm such an idiot!_

When the Hive Five were finally back home Mammoth brought her straight to the medical ward. He set her down gently on one of the beds then let loose a great sigh as he plopped down onto the adjacent one. Gizmo's medical bots whirred to life, two moving to spread Mammoth out onto the bed properly and another appearing in front of the wounded sorceress. Without so much as a robotic word or a beep, one metal appendage extended towards her, a bright light appearing at the end.

As the light passed back and forth Jinx tried to think of some possible explanation for Starfire's actions. But as we all know, it's very hard to think positively when every fiber of your being is screaming 'F.U.B.A.R.!' and you're inclined to agree. Every time she tried to convince herself there was some reason Starfire had acted this way (maybe she _hadn't _gotten the package, maybe she wanted to get revenge for last night before she was ready to move on, maybe she was trying to prove something to the sorceress) she just kept coming back to the fury in that green gaze, and the feel of warm blood running down past her temple.

"Concussion test: Negative. Fit for duty."

Standing up absentmindedly, a quick glance at Mammoth showed that the hulking villain would be in the medical bay for at least another half hour. The two medical bots looked to be proceeding with a series of x-rays, and if the state of her teammate's uniform was anything to go by he'd taken quite a few hits today. While Jinx doubted anything was broken, she was sure that quite a few things would be bruised.

Her first step was met with a sudden flash of pain; Jinx winced and put a tentative hand to her head, resolving to take a shower immediately when she felt the blood. Her second step was less painful, and pretty soon she was making her way back to the living room, each step painless though her head still ached. When the sliding doors opened, it was clear she'd walked into some kind of deep discussion.

Gizmo was on tech-genius auto-pilot; as he shouted at Seemore his hands were fast at work repairing his jetpack, which was shooting sparks and making the oddest clicking noises. Seemore was hunched over on the couch, and it was clear he was too tired to argue with what the younger man was saying.

_What _is_ he saying?_

"Well that sucked! I thought that space-head was supposed to be some kind of sweetheart; if I'd known she was gonna go full commando I never woulda thought this was a good idea!"

"Yeah, I guess. It doesn't make sense though… the see-through vision trick always gets her. Guess Jinx took it a step too far… it was nice while it lasted though."

"Hah! Lasted? Please, we got one score! Yeah, it may have been the best score we've ever made, but still! And we probably won't make another one like it anytime soon considering how we got our butts kicked today!"

Jinx sighed and passed through the room, head hung low. She saw Billy in her peripheral, leaning against the kitchen counter with what looked suspiciously like a jug of moonshine clutched in his hand. Where it had come from, Jinx had no idea. She ignored the pitying glances Kyd Wykkyd and Seemore sent her way and ignored Gizmo when he called her name.

The trip to her bedroom went by in a blur; she could barely remember to retrieve a towel from her closet before heading into the attached bathroom. The boys shared a bathroom, but during construction Jinx had made it very clear to Gizmo that if he didn't give the sorceress her own, she'd act on her title of 'witch' and put the little boy in the oven to bake. She'd also requested a private passage to the roof: a hidden elevator built into the wall of her walk-in closet. She often went up to the roof to think… it was quiet up there: perhaps the only quiet spot in the entire complex.

After placing the towel on the rack beside the glass shower stall, Jinx began to undress. First went the hair bands. She didn't risk shaking her head to loosen her hair; she settled for simply wetting her hands at the sink and running them through each horn until she felt the pink locks brushing her shoulders, no longer defying gravity. When she pulled her hands away there were traces of blood on her fingers, and with a sharp intake of breathe she rubbed them away under the running water, disgusted.

She sat down on the toilet to remove her boots, striped purple stockings following. Tucking the shoes in a corner but leaving the stockings where they lay, she stood to undo her skirt. After that came the button-up top, and soon enough Jinx was standing in just her lacy black unmentionables.

She found herself shivering without her clothes so she moved to the shower to turn on the water but didn't get in; she turned the shower head until the water came out in a firm but gentle pulse, her favorite remedy for sore muscles. Letting the water caress her hand for a moment, Jinx sighed heavily. She moved back to the sink to retrieve her body wash and hair care products from the medicine cabinet as steam began to rise from within the glass. As she shut the door her reflection stared back at her, and for the first time she saw the blood coating the side of her head; it wasn't as bad as she'd thought, but it still made her want to vomit. Jinx wasn't fond of blood, she never had been.

She especially wasn't fond of it now; seeing the blood made her think of Starfire, and her eyes squeezed shut as the memory of Raven and Starfire standing together, smiling, resurfaced.

_Maybe I should just give up… maybe she would be better off with someone else. Someone better. Better for her, at least, because there's no way Raven is 'better' than me… or is she? It looks like at least she's honest_ _about her feelings, unlike me._

Her hands curled into fists and she felt her shoulders clench; before she could get any more miserable she practically ripped off her underwear and hurried into the shower.

The hot water felt like a dream. If her head hadn't been filled to the brim with doubts, anger and misery she probably would have been purring, relishing the feel of the steady stream of water massaging her sore muscles. But instead she could simply appreciate the warmth surrounding her, the steam hiding her away from the rest of the world.

She remained still under the water for a few moments before starting to wipe away the sweat, grit, and blood. The smell of her favorite vanilla body wash brightened her mood by the moment as the feeling of being clean began to increase. Dirt and blood ran down her body, falling down onto the floor and washing away down the drain, leaving pale limbs and a toned stomach fresh and rejuvenated. Pink hair lay flat against the sorceress' face, shoulders, and neck, water weaving in and out to wash away evidence of injury. Shampoo made sure every strand was free of blood, and conditioner made it as smooth as silk. When she was clean, she was content to simply rest under the falling water.

Ironically, the water thundering in her ears as all pain fled her body had managed to chase away the turmoil in her head and heart.

When she finally turned the water off there was a calm, relaxed look to her face, though she wasn't quite smiling. Wrapping the fluffy black towel around herself, Jinx ran a hand through her hair and breathed a sigh of relief when her digits came away clean.

Leaving the door to the bathroom open to let the steam loose, Jinx went to the walk-in closet to find some pajamas. Settling on a soft pair of black sweatpants, the kind with the elastic at the ankles, and a plain white tank top, Jinx wrapped the towel around her shoulders to let her hair air-dry.

She wasn't quite ready to go to sleep; there were still things she had to think about. So she headed to the hidden elevator and called it down by placing her hand against a nondescript black panel that was set in the wall. It scanned her prints, and the sound of metals against metal came steadily closer as the elevator descended. A classic 'ding' announced its arrival, and Jinx stepped in. She held her thoughts at bay by closing her eyes and focusing on the elevator music: something that sounded very 30s and though Jinx couldn't understand a word of what the vocalist (a female) was singing, she enjoyed it.

When she arrived at the roof, she walked over to the railing and looked out over the city. Leaning against it, the questions came. Should she give up on Starfire? Was there no point in trying? Had she ruined any chance she had with the beautiful titan? Should she leave her to Raven? Would Raven make Starfire happy? Happier than Jinx could ever make her? Admittedly, she'd hate to lose anything to the irritating telepath… but if she made Starfire happy, then Jinx had no right to interfere.

Every question convinced her that giving up would be the best option, maybe even the only one. Somehow though, despite all the logic, the thought of letting Starfire go just made the sorceress incredibly sad. Not angry, not jealous, just sad.

She rested her head on one hand, the other resting on the rail. She turned her gaze from the city lights to the starry sky above, her eyes searching the stars for an answer.

What she found was even better.

Pink, cat-like eyes widened in shock as they found Starfire herself soaring among the stars, her figure lit up by both the neon of the city and the light of the moon. The beautiful creature was smiling, eyes alight with joy and pride, Jinx could see it from here.

All thoughts of giving up were burned away and replaced by a bigger, fiercer desire to make Starfire hers… to see that joy, that bright, beautiful smile, directed at her. Screw the titans; she wanted to be the one Starfire was flying home to. She wanted to run her fingers through that beautiful red hair, feel the warmth of the other girl's body pressed against her.

The need was all-consuming; no matter what Starfire had been thinking earlier today, Jinx knew she had to get her feelings across. No matter what the cost. Hell, she would've run to Titan Tower right now and scaled the walls… you know, if she hadn't been bra-less.

Instead she simply smiled: smiled like a love-struck fool. Because after all, that's what she was.

* * *

**Not a very exciting chapter, I know. Other than that? Not much to say... **

**Review after reading ;)  
**


	8. Little White Lie

**Unexpected: VIII**

Starfire was still grinning by the time she'd made it back to the tower. Judging by the moon it was almost ten; the night was still young. She hoped her friends hadn't started the celebration party without her, but she hadn't been gone that long so she wasn't worried. She hummed to herself as she placed her hand against the scanner that served as the front door's main lock. With a beep and a click, the door unlocked and rolled open. The young alien stepped through and set off for the main hall, her head filled with curious yet pleasant thoughts.

_She is a curious girl. Jinx returned the belt, but nothing else. Why? And that message… she offered apology. I do not think this is another game, or a tease. She had no reason to send back what she'd stolen; she must have known she wouldn't be getting it back. Perhaps it is a symbol of her sincerity? And yet… how am I to trust her? She is a member of the Hive Five: a villain and a thief. _

…_but she is also just a girl no older than myself. A girl that may not have been as lucky as we were at finding a reason to fight for something greater than ourselves. Besides, I suppose no one is perfect. Even I find my moral code wavering from time to time… oh! That reminds me! I need to refill Beast Boy's cookie jar before he notices… maybe Raven would be willing to accompany me to the mall of shopping tomorrow._

Her thoughts helped pass the time; soon enough she was at the double doors that opened into the main hall. She could hear music playing already so she didn't waste time. Opening the doors and regarding the scene before her for a moment, she couldn't help but giggle.

Over in the kitchen there were two distinct stacks of pizza; one guarded by Cyborg, the other by Beast Boy. Robin stood between the two of them with an empty plate in his hand and he glanced nervously from side to side, not sure what he was supposed to do.

"Come on Robin, a growing boy needs his meat!"

"No way man, meat weighs you down! I should now, I've been a cow, a pig… even sheep are heavier than they look! What you need is a good slice of veggie heaven!"

"Are you a man or a hippie? Besides, just look at the pepperoni! You know you want it. It's calling your name!"

Robin finally gave in, sending a quick apology to Beast Boy before accepting two beautiful slices of pepperoni pizza from a triumphant Cyborg. Laughing at the dejected look on Beast Boy's face, Starfire flew over to the kitchen and grabbed a plate.

"Please, might I have a slice of this 'veggie heaven,' Friend Beast Boy?" The little green changeling's eyes lit up and he smiled at her reverently before hurrying to fulfill her request. "Sure, Star!"

Starfire smiled back, handing over her plate so he could get her a slice. A tap on her shoulder made her turn around, and her smile grew wider. Raven stood behind her, hood down and face pleasant, with a soda clutched in one hand.

_I think this is the first time I've ever seen Raven drink anything but tea!_

"What came in the mail for you?"

Starfire opened her mouth, excited to tell Raven all about her altercation with the angry little curator man, but then she realized that in doing so she'd have to tell her whole team how she'd come to have the belt in her possession. She wasn't really sure the mention of Jinx, or any of the Hive Five, would be welcome at their "We-Kicked-the-Hive-Five's-Butts-Today" party. She stuttered, trying to think of something to say, and Raven's curious gaze wasn't helping her think.

"It was, uh… it was a…" Starfire racked her brain, and suddenly words came tumbling out of her mouth. "I-it was, a… bottle of Arkhor? Uh, yes! Yes, it was a bottle of Tamaranean Arkhor!"

She gulped when Raven arched an indigo brow, hoping against hope that she wouldn't call the Tamaranean out on her nervousness.

"And… Arkhor is… what, exactly?"

"Oh! Ah, well Arkhor is a Tamaranean festival drink, made from the fermented juice of the Glizrute berry. It is quite tangy and delicious: a very, uh, mood-lifting drink."

Raven looked like she wanted to question the alien further, but a shadow came over the two girls and Raven's eyes left Starfire's, sliding up slowly to stare over her head. A chill went down Starfire's spine, and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed to not reach around and strike at whatever had come up behind her. Her head turned, inch by inch, and she found herself staring up at the very silent, very serious faces of Cyborg and Beast Boy.

Beast Boy was perched on Cyborg's shoulders, Starfire's veggie slices balanced on his head. His eyes had gone as wide as saucers, as had Cyborg's human eye. The robotic eye had of course remained the same size, but glowed down at her fiercely. The three of them, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire, remained silent for a few moments, staring at each other. Even the music seemed to have decreased in volume, out of respect for the silent stare-off.

Beast Boy broke the silence. "Uh, Star? Did you say… fermented?"

Cyborg followed, "As in… alcohol?"

Robin could obviously see where this was going (though Starfire could not) and tried to get a word in, "Wait a minute guys, maybe we should-"

But he was interrupted, and this time Beast Boy grinned when he spoke. "As in happy-party-fun-time?"

Starfire thought for a moment. She tried to recall what alcohol was; she remembered watching a documentary about it when she'd first come to earth. It was something Cyborg had required each member of the team to watch… apparently he'd made Beast Boy watch it twice. She didn't remember much of it; a lot of it was technical, scientific talk that Starfire didn't understand. The only science she really knew had to do with space travel. She did remember video footage of a "house party," and there had been a lot of shouting, stumbling, and laughing.

Thinking about it, she guessed that Arkhor _could _be considered alcohol; it certainly made people act the same way. Though it didn't make people vomit like alcohol did, if she was remembering the documentary correctly.

"I believe so, I suppose it has the same effects-"

"Dude! Go get it!"

The eager grins on her friend's faces made her smile, even though she wasn't sure why they were so happy. The consumption of Arkhor on her planet was by no means "a big deal," so she was surprised they were so excited. The nervous grin on Robin's face further confused her as she headed to the door. By the time she heard Raven say "This is not going to end well," Starfire was completely befuddled.

She waited for the doors to close before she let loose a great sigh of relief. Thank Schlurg she actually had a bottle of Arkhor stashed away in her room, saved from her last trip to Tamaran. If she'd had to explain what she'd really gotten in the mail, she surely would have ruined everyone's good mood and put herself in an awkward situation. She didn't think that Jinx was trying to trick her again, but her friends probably would have assumed the worst and tried to "protect" her from Jinx's "little game".

And Starfire didn't want that.

She was curious about the other girl; she wanted to get a chance to really talk with her, maybe find out what she was up to. She doubted that this simple apology would be the end of it… whatever "it" was.

When she made it to her room she headed straight to her closet; that was where she kept all of her gifts and souvenirs from home. The Arkhor was kept in a long, thin glass bottle that was about two feet from cork to base. Both the glass and liquid inside were a deep amethyst color; the bottle was not labeled or adorned in any way but the glass was blown in such a way that the Arkhor curled as it was poured. This helped to keep the flavor fresh and even.

Starfire couldn't help but sigh as she retrieved the bottle; it was her last one. Still, she was curious to see how her teammates would act under its influence, especially Raven. Arkhor tended to release inhibitions and make people more free with their emotions and affections.

When she arrived back at the main hall the music was louder than before and she heard Cyborg and Beast Boy singing along, though the lyrics were so garbled by the bass she couldn't for the life of her understand what they were saying. The moment the doors opened they called her name and she was assaulted with empty Solo cups; she poured three drinks, then looked around for Raven. She found her leaning against the counter, next to a plate with two slices of veggie pizza. Raven waved her over and Starfire floated over gleefully, happy that her pizza had not been lost in all the madness.

She moved to fill Raven's cup, but the telepath held it just out of reach, a nervous light in her eyes and the faintest of blushes staining her cheeks. "Raven, what is wrong?"

"I-I probably shouldn't… you of all people should now my emotions are-"

Starfire held out a hand to stop her. She knew what Raven was worried about; even though Trigon was no more Raven's powers were still a little unstable. The occasional light bulb still blew out, and doors still sometimes flew open with a burst of black energy, so Raven's concern may have been reasonable. However, Starfire knew that these things only happened when Raven was upset or anxious, and Arkhor was a drink that brought only joy.

"Please, you have helped me with my inhibitions; let me help you with yours."

Raven looked like she might refuse for a moment more, but a grin grew on Starfire's face as she saw the other girl's eyes soften and her resolve crumble. The cup descended and Starfire poured a steady stream of the purple liquid into it, filling it up only about a third of the way. No need to scare Raven away with a full cup.

The telepath took a tentative sip, and when her eyes lit up in surprise at the taste and another sip quickly followed the first, Starfire turned to her pizza. She'd eaten halfway through the first slice before she had to turn to refill the boys' cups. The happy light in Beast Boy's eyes had made her laugh. She didn't pour herself any until after she'd finished the second piece.

Relishing the taste of the sweet beverage, she observed her friends with a knowing smile growing on her face. She'd had a sneaking suspicion her teammates would be a tad more susceptible to the effects of the Arkhor than the typical Tamaranean; they hadn't even finished their second glasses yet Beast Boy and Robin were spinning in a circle, arms locked, and Cyborg looked to be captaining some kind of imaginary ship. As she giggled a sudden weight descended upon her shoulder. Turning, she found that Raven's face was in very close proximity to her own, and the expression on her face was so gravely serious Starfire had to clap a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter.

"Starfire. How much stuff is in this stuff? I've only had, like… this much," the telepath held out her thumb and forefinger to indicate a small amount, "…and my head's all fuzzy. And so is yours… now that I'm looking at it. I thought your hair was straight!"

"My hair is straight, Raven! It's just that compared to Tamaraneans, you and our friends are, how do you say… the lightweights? Come, let us join our friends!"

Propping the dizzy titan up with one arm, Starfire guided them over to the couch, where the boys looked to be playing Duck Duck Goose. When Cyborg saw them he smiled and shouted, "Aw, Raven's drunk! How nice, isn't that nice? Hey, you girls wanna play Duck Duck Goose? If we were all Beast Boy we could play for real, but only Beast Boy is Beast Boy, so we all can't turn into ducks. It's so unfair!"

The rest of the night passed by in a blur, especially after the boys dared Starfire to chug what was left of the Arkhor, considering she wasn't feeling the effects as nearly as much as they were. She remembered laughing, shouting, dancing, the chicken fights (Robin on her shoulders and Beast Boy on Cyborg's), and she remembered Raven smiling all night long.

And now, she stroked the other girl's hair as she lay asleep in her lap whilst the boys watched, transfixed.

"Dudes, I've never actually seen Raven sleep before…"

"I know... I kinda thought she just... meditated at night." Robin paused for a moment, swaying slightly as his mask narrowed in confusion. "It _is_ called, meditating, right?"

Starfire giggled for what felt like the millionth time that night, and the boys did the same. It should have been odd, hearing boys giggle, but seeing as how they were all quite gone it was just funny. Who could have known that a little white lie could have lead to such a rich, rewarding night? And from what Cyborg had managed to tell her between bouts with an imaginary dragon, Arkhor was a much easier drink to suffer through than any kind of alcohol; she'd shivered when he'd told her what a hangover was.

She heard Raven mumble something in her sleep and looked down at her with a fond smile.

"Say again, Raven?"

Raven nuzzled against her leg, smiling in her sleep. Her cheeks were still pink, and she looked so much smaller and fragile than she usually appeared.

"Starfire…"

Starfire blinked? Had she heard that right?

Heat rose in her cheeks. Raven was dreaming about her. Or Starfire was in the dream, at least. Yes, that was probably it; Raven was probably dreaming about the fun they'd had that night… there was no way she'd be dreaming about Starfire. No way at all.

…her blush didn't keep her from falling asleep less than five minutes later, lulled by a symphony of snores from her teammates.

* * *

Cyborg was the first to wake up the next morning, and he was shocked to find his head as clear as a summer sky.

_Guess Star was right about that stuff bein' special… speakin' of which where is Starfire?_

It didn't take him long to find her, and he couldn't help but smile when he did.

Raven hadn't moved far from Starfire's lap, she'd simply traded up for the Tamaranean's smooth stomach. Raven's arms were wrapped around her, and Starfire in turn had one hand resting on Raven's hair. The other was spread out comically across the floor, and the alien was snoring lightly.

_Now isn't that cute? Well, better wake Rae up before Starfire does. Don't want the tower exploding._

Taking care as he stepped over Robin and a green monkey, Cyborg reached out and shook Raven's shoulder lightly. Silently hoping she wouldn't want to kill him for disturbing her sleep (there was no doubt she was very comfortable where she was), he let out a sigh of relief when her eyes blinked open slowly, her arms tightening reflexively around Starfire's waist.

"Rae," he whispered, "you'd better wake up. Wouldn't want Star to be the first one up, now would you?"

Raven moaned, still half-asleep, but when his words sunk in she snapped into consciousness. He wanted to laugh, but he knew she'd send him through a wall if he did. Instead, he simply grinned as Raven's face went beet red and she tried to untangle herself without waking her sleepover buddy up. Luckily, Starfire was a heavy sleeper and Raven was able to extract herself without waking her.

Cyborg opened his mouth to comment but Raven cut him off, "Don't you say a word," as she pulled up her hood. He shrugged and headed into the kitchen to start breakfast. With Beast Boy still asleep, he'd be able to cook his eggs and bacon in peace.

Unfortunately though, the world had other plans.

Just as he went to turn on the stove, the alarm sounded.

"Ah man…"

* * *

**No Jinx in this chapter, but I make up for it in the next one ;)**


	9. The Question

**Unexpected: IX**

Jinx was tapping her foot, a nervous habit born out of impatience. Her eyes scanned the sky for a moment longer before she turned her head to survey the heist going on behind her. The bank wouldn't have opened for at least another two hours, so no tellers had shown up and the building was still dark. While the boys were busy tearing the vault apart, Jinx was keeping watch for the titans, who would surely be showing up any minute.

She'd volunteered for the job, of course.

She needed to talk to Starfire, and the only way she was going be able to do that would be to get the titan alone for a few moments. But how? Jinx would need to take her by surprise; it wasn't like she could just grab Starfire and force her into a corner, let alone keep her there long enough to get her point across. In a building half-hidden in shadow, this wouldn't be too hard… but she was nervous.

Starfire obviously hadn't forgiven her; she must have thought the apology gift was another kind of trick and gotten even angrier. While Jinx was upset, she supposed she could understand. After all, she wasn't exactly known for any kind of forgiving or compassionate nature, herself.

But if she could just talk to Starfire, she was sure she could straighten everything out.

"Come on, ya kludge-heads! We gotta get outta here before the titans show up!"

Jinx snorted in a most unlady-like fashion before turning her gaze back to the sky.

_The titans _better_ show up soon…_

Robbing the bank had been her idea; it stood to reason that if the Hive Five got up to trouble, the titans would come to the rescue. And Jinx would get to see Starfire. So far though, the titans were nowhere to be found, and Jinx was getting nervous.

Last night, after she'd resolved to make Starfire hers, Jinx couldn't hope to fall asleep so she'd stayed up, planning out what she would say to make Starfire understand. A large pile of crumpled up papers lying in her wastebasket back home marked her attempt to get her thoughts down on paper… her failed attempt. Even now, Jinx wasn't really sure what she was going to say, and her restlessness wasn't helping any.

Every time she tried to plan out a speech or figure out how to make her point without looking like an idiot, her thoughts just kept coming back to, 'Where the hell is she?' This whole heist would be a waste if the titans didn't show, and then she'd have to plan another. And it would have to be soon; she wasn't sure she could take another sleepless night without biting someone's head off.

_But hey, if I have to take someone's head… might as well be Gizmo's. The boy talks way too much for his own good. _

Even now he was shouting about something. Her ears perked but her gaze didn't waver as she continued to search the skyline.

"Dude! What're we gonna do if the titans show up? I am not getting shot out of the sky again, no way! Well… not this soon after, at least! I mean, we just got our butts handed to us yesterday! Why are we trying this so early anyway? Whose bright idea was this?"

"Uh… Jinx's?"

She saw five heads turn to search for her, but she was no longer at the door. Now she was hiding, poised behind one of the columns that supported the bank's ceiling (there were two lines of them, one on either side of the carpeted walkway that split: one way leading to the tellers, the other to the vault itself) and hidden in shadow. Why was she hiding? And with an excited little grin on her face, at that?

The titans were here, and Gizmo was the first to realize. She saw the boy's face go pale as he raised a hand and pointed an accusing finger at the entry way. "Crud! The titans are here!"

She was sure that the little tech genius would've called out to her, demanding she show herself and explain why the lookout deemed it fit to go missing just as the titans showed up, but Cyborg cut him off.

"Man, why y'all gotta do this so early in the morning? What's wrong with you? We just beat your butts less than 24 hours ago! You can't honestly tell me you're ready for another serving?"

Now, Gizmo and Cyborg couldn't stand each other. This was common knowledge. Cyborg because no one hacked the big man's systems and got away with it; Gizmo because Cyborg was constantly tearing his tech apart and he was constantly having to rebuild it. If anyone but Cyborg had been the first to speak Gizmo probably would have retreated, but he was always raring to screw with Cyborg's systems.

"Oh yeah, Tin Can? I seem to remember you running around in circles like an idiot not two days ago! Besides, if I'm keeping score right, it's our turn to do the beating!"

Jinx rolled her eyes as the fighting began. Gizmo's backpack erupted into four robotic spider legs and he immediately went after Cyborg. Billy Numerous did his thing and filled the bank with carbon copies of himself. She saw Seemore sigh before he switched his eye to its laser mode, taking aim as Kyd Wykkyd remained silent beside him. Mammoth, of course, charged forward without a clear plan.

The titans responded in kind; Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy charged forward, each letting loose a battle cry. Raven shielded them from Seemore's laser as they ran, and when the two sides hit it was like bedlam.

But Jinx wasn't paying attention to the bedlam; she only had eyes for Starfire. She was flying just behind the boys, watching over them as they charged, hands glowing. Seeing her both excited and terrified Jinx, and the question 'How am I going to do this?' repeated itself over and over in her head.

_HowamIgoingtodothis HowamIgoingtodothis HowintheHELLamIgoingtodothis_

Starbolts met lasers blow for blow; not a single blast of energy from either Seemore or Starfire went unmet. And when Seemore was encased in black and thrown across the room Starfire didn't waste any time; she traded Starbolts for fists and she went after Mammoth, fighting with him as easily as Cyborg or Beast Boy could have. Well, if Beast Boy was a gorilla or a bear, or something.

Jinx remained hidden in the shadows; thankfully her absence had been temporarily forgotten by her teammates and gone unnoticed by the titans. Some part of her was miffed that no one had realized she was missing (who could forget _her_ presence?) but the rational part of her mind was thankful for it.

Starfire and Mammoth were grappling now, hands locked together and feet planted firmly on the ground as they each tried to push the other back. In a rare moment of intelligence Mammoth suddenly switched tactics, lifting the titan up off the ground, spinning around and hurling her across the room.

Jinx's heart almost stopped. Starfire was heading straight for her, and Jinx sent up a silent 'Thank You' to the heavens for they had presented her with a perfect opportunity. Crouching like a jungle cat on the prowl, Jinx waited for her moment to strike.

The momentum behind Mammoth's throw carried Starfire past the line of columns and would have sent her crashing into the wall had she not twisted in midair and caught herself. With her feet planted on the wall, Starfire for a moment resembled an Olympic swimmer at the starting block, ready to spring forward and take the gold.

Jinx saw every muscle in the other girl's body tense and felt her own do the same, a sly smile stretching across her face.

Starfire kicked off from the wall with a cry, eyes alight, and at the same moment Jinx leapt up from her spot on the floor, arms outstretched. Praying she'd timed it right, Jinx wanted to squeal in delight when she felt her body hit Starfire's and the power behind both lunges sent them reeling back into the shadows and away from the fight. Surprised, Starfire was unable to stop them and soon enough they were tumbling across the floor together.

When they finally stopped, Jinx found herself in a most pleasant position. Starfire was underneath her, back against the floor. Jinx was on top, hands on either side of the other girl's head, holding her up. Bright green eyes stared up at her in surprise, and the proximity of their faces had heat rushing from every part of Jinx's body and collecting in her cheeks.

"U-uh, hi? I mean," Jinx cleared her throat and smiled nervously. All of a sudden her confidence was gone, and she was almost thankful she'd never managed to come up with a speech, because she surely would have forgotten it. Instead words just came tumbling out of her mouth, "I wanted to, uh, talk to you about the belt because, well, I figured you were still mad and maybe you thought it was a trick or something and I can understand why you might but…"

Starfire continued to gaze up at her, curiously now… but her gaze held no malice or anger so Jinx continued on, though she had no idea what she was saying.

"So I figured today I'd try and, ah… get you… alone… so I could talk to you and maybe straighten this out and tell you I really am sorry and I really wanted you to get that because I don't want you to hate me, that's why I sent the belt back and…"

She was acting like an idiot. She was disgusted with herself, really; she was never this nervous. She was Jinx, for crying out loud! Tease, villain, bad luck incarnate! She wasn't supposed to ramble! She sighed heavily and shook her head, ashamed.

"And you must think I'm an idiot. I'm sorry; I'm never like this… I never get nervous! It's just that, well, I really wanted to make sure you knew that I was sorry and I mean it and I was kinda sorta hoping you might forgive me, though I guess I could understand if you didn't…"

_Idiot! We want her to like us, what the hell are you doing telling her it's okay not to forgive you?_

Jinx remained still for a moment, eyes closed, waiting to get blasted off, or to get laughed at… but nothing came. When she cracked one eye open, she saw that Starfire had closed her eyes, her face expressionless.

_Crap… I'm gonna get starbolt'd again, I just know it! _

But no Starbolt came. Instead, Jinx's eyes opened wide in surprise as a slow smile spread across the other girl's face. Two thoughts entered her head, one right after the other.

The first was: _Uh…_

The second was: _She's beautiful…_

A sound somewhere between a squeak and a gasp escaped her when warm hands came upon her waist and stayed there; her blush intensified as Starfire's eyes opened and stared into hers, shining brightly, warmly even.

Jinx could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears; she could practically feel her body pounding along with it. She was worried Starfire could hear it too, but then again any dignity she had left had probably been destroyed with that little squeak she'd just made.

And then Starfire was rising, her hands keeping Jinx in place as she righted the both of them. When they were both back on their feet Starfire (unfortunately) let go of her waist, too soon in Jinx's opinion, but didn't step away, which was a good sign.

"You do not need to worry about forgiveness, Jinx. You already have it, so tell your heart to cease its thundering." Jinx wanted to die, right then and there, but Starfire's giggle made her smile.

"Well that's good news. I thought for sure you hated my guts after, well… after yesterday."

Now it was Starfire's turn to blush, and as Jinx thought that there was nothing more beautiful in all the world, the titan scratched at the back of her head, embarrassed.

"I believe _I_ must apologize for that. You see, I had not yet then received your gift, so I was still quite… how do you say… miffed? It was not until I returned home that I found the belt, and your note." She paused, clutched her hands together, and bowed. "I am sorry for treating you so poorly, Jinx. I do hope you'll forgive me, so that we might be 'even' as they say."

Jinx looked down at Starfire, thoroughly shocked. This was going better than she could have hoped for! Not only had Starfire forgiven her, but she herself was asking for forgiveness. Plus, Jinx had gotten to learn first-hand how warm the titan's hands were… they were quite nice. For such a strong creature, Starfire had quite the gentle touch.

Jinx's eyes slid shut as she crossed her arms; she shook her head and chuckled at the irony of the situation.

"Why couldn't my apology have been as eloquent?"

Starfire looked up at her, curious. "So… I am forgiven?"

"Of course you are! I think we could agree I deserved it. Besides, I'm fine now, aren't I? I did just tackle you in midair, you know. But I'll be honest, I didn't expect you to apologize, I-"

"But I wanted us to be the even!"

Jinx blinked, and then laughed. "Well we are, so don't worry about it. So… you liked the belt?"

Starfire nodded vigorously, smiling as she did so. "I did! It was a beautiful thing, truly."

Jinx smiled, but she was confused. Her eyes flicked down to the titan's waist (she tried to keep herself from staring but failed… then again she didn't really try too hard) and her smile faltered slightly.

"So… where is it?"

Starfire cocked her head, confused. "I returned it to the museum, of course."

"You returned it to the…" Jinx groaned and her shoulders sagged. Damn this girl's good nature. The belt was a gift; Starfire hadn't been supposed to return it, she was supposed to wear it. Sure, the belt had looked fabulous on Jinx, but silver was a part of Starfire's everyday hero outfit; it would've looked equally as fabulous on her. Yes, it was meant as a sincere apology, but could you blame a girl for wanting to see her crush in something sexy? "Starfire, you weren't supposed to give it back to the museum! It was a gift!"

"I am not in the habit of accepting stolen goods as 'gifts,' Jinx."

Jinx paused, heart rate increasing again. What she said here was critical, she could just feel it.

"Well… maybe you'd let me buy you a real apology gift then? Like, say, dinner?"

The few seconds that passed before Starfire answered felt like years. Regarding Jinx curiously, Starfire's face remained unreadable for a moment, before bursting into a happy little grin. Jinx felt her heart soar, and now it seemed that the heat in her cheeks had eased into a warmth that settled over her entire body. "I would be delighted."

_Yes!_

"Meet me at the south side of the park, say around eight?"

Starfire held out a hand, still smiling, and Jinx grasped it with equal joy. She reveled in the softness of the other girl's skin, and the light in her eyes. No matter how big a fool she'd made of herself today, she was leaving this fight a winner. A very lucky winner.

"I look forward to it."

Starfire's grip tightened, but when one emerald eye closed in a wink Jinx was not worried. They had to keep up appearances, after all.

So when Starfire lifted her off the ground, eyes alight, and flung her back into the fray, Jinx could only grin.

_I have a date tonight! Oh crap… what am I gonna wear?_

* * *

**I wanted to update as soon as possible, since the last chapter didn't have much action, and no Jinx. So this time I give you a chapter written completely from Jinx's perspective, and hey! Jinx finally asked her out! All I have to say is: took her long enough!  
**

**Reviewing is a wonderful thing.  
**


	10. First Date

**Unexpected: X**

Waiting for Starfire to show up was more nerve-wracking than taking an exam at the Hive Academy with the Headmaster stalking up and down the aisles.

_Maybe showing up a half an hour early was a bad idea… _

It wasn't like she was worried about being seen or getting arrested; for having pink hair Jinx could be incredibly hard to find in a crowd. Despite being well into the afternoon it was still summer, so the sun was still up and it was still pretty hot out. With her hair tied back in a loose bun and her Ray-Ban's hiding her eyes, she could have been any old scene kid chilling in the park.

Well, any old scene kid chilling in the park and checking her watch every five seconds. And tapping her foot impatiently. She'd really have to rein that in; it wouldn't do to have Starfire show up and see her tapping her foot like she wasn't perfectly content with waiting for her date to show up.

The word "date" brought a silly little grin to Jinx's face.

To think that just a few days ago she'd seen Starfire as just part of a whole (a very annoying crime-fighting goodie-two-shoes whole), never once stopping to look and realize how beautiful the other girl was. And not just beautiful; getting starbolt'd must have knocked a wire loose somewhere in her head, or rather re-connected it, because suddenly the notion that Starfire had been little more than a pretty face with a hard right hook seemed like utter blasphemy.

Starfire had quickly become one of the most interesting people Jinx knew. She was sweet, caring, kind, humble… and yet she was so brave, so strong. Yesterday was probably the first time the two had ever gotten a chance to speak civilly, with no plans, tricks, or ulterior motives, and Jinx couldn't wait to talk with her again. Starfire had certain intelligence, a certain refinement to her speech that most bubbly, happy valley girls didn't have.

Jinx checked her watch.

_7:54. Okay. Six more minutes. _She inhaled deeply, then let it out slowly. An attempt to remain calm. _I can do this._

Yester day she'd thanked her lucky stars that she'd been able to smoothly and successfully ask the other girl out for dinner; considering how she'd rambled in the minutes beforehand it had been quite the achievement. Hopefully Starfire didn't think she was an idiot, or that she had only agreed to this date because she was hoping to see Jinx struggle to form a coherent sentence.

While this was unlikely, there was always that chance…

She checked her watch again.

_7:57. How has it only been three minutes? Oh god… alright, Jinx. Breathe. In and out. You can do this; you're the charmer here, not Starfire. Starfire's the sweetheart, she isn't supposed to get you all tongue-tied. Don't screw this up like you did yesterday._

Jinx cocked her head, curious.

_But did I really screw up yesterday? I mean, even though I made a fool of myself she still agreed to go out with me. And I did to get to feel what it's like to be on top… if I hadn't been busy tripping over my tongue feeling her underneath me would have been a hell of a lot more distracting. Huh. Maybe rambling did me a lot more good than I originally thought!_

"Jinx?"

The sorceress jumped to her feet, caught completely by surprise. Before her stood Starfire; there was curious light in her eyes and her hands were clasped behind her back.

"Starfire! I wasn't expecting you for…" Looking down at her watch one last time, Jinx frowned when she realized that Starfire was perfectly on time.

_How can one set of three minutes take a millennium and then the next pass by like a car on the interstate?_

"I have arrived at the appropriate time, yes? You did say eight, did you not?"

"Yeah, I did. My bad, I just wasn't expecting you to-" Jinx couldn't help herself; when she saw what the other girl was wearing she had to stop.

It wasn't like she was wearing anything risqué or even anything low-cut, but seeing Starfire out of uniform was just… wow. She hadn't taken Starfire for a skinny jeans kind of girl, but seeing those legs made her wonder how she could ever have been so stupid. The purple Roman-style sandals were cute, too. But the kicker was the tank-top; no, it wasn't low cut, but come on. Starfire's boobs would have looked good in any shirt, and this tank was just downright cute. It was a simple, loose racerback tank done in a pattern that almost looked like tie dye; the main color was a warm fuchsia but streaks of soft blues that faded to white gave the top a very nice contrast. It suited her.

"Hey! You look hot!"

Starfire blushed and Jinx smiled. So far so good. She took off her sunglasses, but when she tried to catch Starfire's eye she felt the heat rising in her own cheeks; Starfire was ogling.

And it felt so good.

It had taken about forty-five minutes for Jinx to pick out a suitable outfit. It had been too hot for that jacket she'd seen in that store the other day (Jinx had gone back the next day in her street clothes and bought one in her size), so she'd had to settle for simple black booty shorts and her favorite purple tank with the silver skull. Considering she'd torn her closet apart, it was a pretty simple outfit. But hey, she looked good in anything.

"Y-you look… ah, very nice as well, Jinx. I've never seen your hair submit to gravity before… you should wear it down more often."

"Only if you promise to wear those skinny jeans at least once a week."

Starfire giggled, and Jinx was proud of herself. This was much better than rambling. This was flirting, and flirting was always better than rambling.

"I do not think they'd do me any good in battle; though the material may be tight I fear they'd offer very little protection."

"Maybe not, but you'd look good. You think I wear those heels 'cuz they help me somersault?" Starfire laughed again and this time Jinx joined her. After a few moments she put her sunglasses back on and gestured for the other girl to follow her; she'd really wanted to take her hand but it was probably too soon. "Come on, we're gonna be late."

Looking at Starfire out of the corner of her eye, Jinx saw the other girl's face light up with curiosity and couldn't help but smile. She couldn't wait to sit down with her and talk, and the place she'd picked was perfect: quiet, out of the way, good atmosphere…

"Please, might you tell me where it is we are going? It's not that I don't trust you, but I-"

"Don't worry about it. I made reservations at this little place called Mark's. I've been going there for a while now, it's a nice place. I know the guy that runs it, he's nice enough. He's never given me trouble and I've always been sure to be a good girl and pay the check; I even leave pretty good tips when I'm in the mood."

In truth, Mark's was one of the few places in Jump City where she was welcome. Mark was an Italian-American guy in his late 50s that wanted nothing more out of life than pizza and happy customers. Admittedly he hadn't been too pleased the first time she'd walked into his place, but after her first few stops there went by without incident he treated her just as well as any of his other patrons.

The walk there went by quickly, though Jinx would often glance over and see Starfire looking curiously in shop windows and staring at the many neon signs that had begun to light up as the sun went down.

_Guess she doesn't get out of the tower much…_

When they finally arrived Jinx made sure to play the part of the gentleman and hold the door open for her date… okay well maybe she really wanted to catch a glimpse of Starfire's backside, but could she be blamed? Those jeans…

"Well look who's here! Jinx, you little devil. Whaddya think you're doin' draggin' a titan down here to my humble abode? Don't tell me you've fooled this poor girl into thinkin' you're some kinda sweetheart!"

"Ah, give it a rest, Mark. You're lucky you're pizza's so good, or I wouldn't bother coming here. And I'll have you know I _am_ a sweetheart… when it suits me. Got a table for us?"

Mark was balding, and had a bit of belly, but for some reason he was pleasant to look at; it was probably the ever-present smile he sported, or the happy little twinkle in his dark eyes. His entire body shook when he laughed and as he waved them over to a small, out of the way table towards the back of the restaurant Jinx heard Starfire giggle.

Unfortunately when Jinx went to pull Starfire's chair out for her she found that Mark had already taken her place; as Starfire smiled and offered her thanks, Jinx crossed her arms and glared daggers at the man over the rim of her Ray-Bans. He grinned back at her.

"What's the matter, kiddo? Aren't ya gonna sit down?"

She did, with a huff. She heard Mark ask what they wanted to drink, and when Starfire asked for a soda she said, "Same" without bothering to look at him. She didn't move until she heard him walk away; when he was gone she sighed and took off her sunglasses, folding one side down then tucking the other into her top.

"Is something the matter, Jinx?"

"I wanted to get your chair for you. You know, be a gentleman and all that. Mark beat me to it."

Starfire stared at her curiously for a moment before laughing. Jinx blushed and made herself busy by taking her hair down from its bun and shaking it out. Running her fingers through it, the next time she glanced up she saw Starfire gazing at her, the remnants of a smile still lingering around her lips. Jinx felt a smile growing on her own face. She leaned forward in her seat, her elbows resting on the table.

"So Starfire, what's it like being a titan? I mean, aside from kicking our butts all day. What's it like, oh I don't know… going to the mall? Do the people attack you? Asking for autographs and pictures and all that?"

Starfire thought for a moment and made a musing kind of noise. "Well, I wouldn't say we get attacked… in fact the vast majority of people are too afraid to approach us. Only the most, I believe the word is hardcore, fans will ask for the autograph. This may be Raven's doing; though she is dear to me I must admit she can be a bit… intimidating."

"You and Raven are close?" Thank the gods she had her self-control back, otherwise Jinx wouldn't have been able to keep her voice neutral; jealousy and malice had bubbled up within her at the mention of Raven.

"Oh yes. She is my dear friend. All of the titans are my dear friends! Raven is special though, I suppose. We are quite similar."

Jinx couldn't contain her laughter. "Similar? You and Raven? You two are complete opposites!"

"Maybe in appearance and in demeanor I suppose… but both of our powers are controlled by emotion so we struggle with the same issues of focus. We've tread the mile in each other's shoes, as well. We've been through much together. She is my best friend."

_Hah. Goth girl wants to be a whole lot more than friends, Starfire. It's good for me though that you haven't realized it yet… and here I was worrying they were already together!_

"When you said your powers were controlled by emotion, what exactly does that mean?"

Mark eventually brought their sodas but they barely took notice, so engrossed in conversation were they. When he tried to take their order Jinx just waved him away. He took the hint, and sometime later came back with a plain cheese pizza. The two continued to talk as they ate, asking questions and answering in kind between bites. They actually found out a lot about each other.

Jinx found herself confessing things about her powers that her own teammates didn't even know, for example that her hexes were so powerful and yet so volatile that sometimes even she didn't know what they'd do. In turn, Jinx learned that flying and throwing starbolts, things the other girl seemed to do almost effortlessly, required the greatest concentration and emotional stability.

They learned meaningless little things about each other too. Jinx told Starfire that she was a Scorpio, and when the titan had stared at her blankly she'd spent ten minutes teaching her about the signs and Earth's constellations. Together they'd puzzled out that Starfire was a Virgo, and Jinx couldn't help but grin when she remembered reading somewhere that Scorpios and Virgos were highly compatible.

"…and that is why my favorite color has become blue. Though the skies of Tamaran were beautiful in their own right, flying over the ocean and looking up into the sky, being surrounded by such a calm, beautiful color… it is truly breathtaking." Starfire sighed dreamily, probably thinking fondly of the last time she'd flown out over the waters surrounding the tower. But after a moment her eyes snapped back into focus. "You have not told me your favorite color!"

Jinx chuckled and leaned back in her seat, her arms folding and hands locking together to cradle her head as she reclined. "Try and guess."

Starfire frowned but seemed to think for a moment, her eyes drifting over Jinx's figure.

_She's definitely going to say pink._

"Is it purple?"

She almost fell out of her chair.

_How'd she know?_

"How did you know?"

Starfire giggled, surely amused by the look of utter shock on Jinx's face, the slump in her shoulders.

"Because! Though your hair and eyes may both be pink, we do not get to choose our features. My eyes may be green but green is not my favorite color, nor is red. But I've noticed that you always seem to be wearing purple- well, purple and black, but I did not think black would be your favorite color. And I did not have any other ideas, so purple was my guess. Judging from the look on your face I believe I guessed correctly."

Starfire grinned, and the mischievous little light in her eyes had Jinx grin back. Shaking her head and chuckling, Jinx got out her wallet and slapped two twenties down on the table. "And I thought Robin was the smart one. Come on, I'll walk you back to the park. I'd walk you to the tower, but I think we both know that wouldn't end well."

Saying goodbye to Mark on their way out, Jinx felt another blush rising in her cheeks when the older man winked at her. Hopefully Starfire hadn't seen. When Jinx went to open the door for her date, she found the door already held open by none other than her date herself.

"After you, Jinx."

"Stealing my job from me, huh?"

"I believe a proper lady is supposed to respond with a 'Thank you,' when a door is held open for them."

"Oh, I see." With a grin and an upturned nose, Jinx strolled through the doorway without a word. "Good thing I'm not a proper lady!"

The two laughed, and this time Jinx wasn't afraid to reach out and take Starfire's hand. The titan looked surprised for a moment and Jinx could see her blush despite the dark of the night, but the shy little smile that soon came told Jinx all she needed to know.

The walk back to the park passed in comfortable silence, each girl enjoying the warmth of the other's hand. Jinx glanced casually at her watch and was surprised to learn that they'd spent more than three hours talking at Mark's.

_Tonight went... well. Like, really well._

When they arrived back at the park it was way too soon; Jinx didn't really want to leave. At least not without the knowledge that she'd be doing it again, and soon.

"Hey Starfire?"

"Hm?"

"Um… well, I was just thinking and… d'you think maybe we could… do this again?" When Starfire glanced at her with one brow raised, she continued on. "I really liked talking with you tonight… and I really liked seeing you out of uniform. But I thought that, since we're even now and everything… you wouldn't want to, well…"

Starfire stopped walking. When she let go of her hand, Jinx felt her heart leap up into her throat. Was this it? Was Starfire just gonna leave her there, forget this night ever happened, and go on like they'd always done? Was she-

And then Starfire kissed her. No, not on the lips, on the cheek. But did that stop Jinx's face from setting off fireworks in her cheeks? Hell no.

"I believe that now we are even. And I believe that I would very much like to do this again."

Starfire lifted off the ground and began to float away, but Jinx snapped out of her stupor and made a grab for the titan's hand. Starfire looked down at her in surprise but Jinx just flashed a dangerous, toothy smile, her eyes narrowing in a predatory gaze.

"Not so fast, babe. I have to save your life before we're even, but don't think it's against the rules for me to put it in danger, first. Even if it was, that'd just be a rule I'd have to break. You'll be seeing me again soon."

Starfire gazed fondly at her for a moment before she smiled.

"I look forward to it."

And with that, Jinx released her hand and the titan flew back home, looking back over her shoulder once to wave. Jinx waved back and watched the sky even after Starfire's figure could not be seen. A pale hand came up to caress the spot where she'd been kissed.

* * *

**And Chapter 10. I love writing as Jinx :)**

**I did kinda make up the zodiac signs, but I chose signs that are actually compatible and that suited each character's personality.**

**Review!  
**


	11. Assurance

**Unexpected: XI**

Raven had been looking for Starfire for half an hour before she had finally given up and retired to her room for the night. Admitting to herself that she had... feelings... for her best friend had made her confident enough to think that asking Starfire to go with her to the mall tomorrow was a good idea. Unfortunately, the bubbly titan was nowhere to be found. Raven may have been slightly worried and curious as to where Starfire might've gone, but the Tamaranean Princess could take care of herself. Plus, the Starfire was often out of the Tower, taking long walks or enjoying a wandering flight.

Raven was just about to settle into her meditation pose when she suddenly sensed the other girl's bright, bubbly aura approaching the Tower. The corners of her mouth shot up into an unconscious smile and she immediately phased through the floor of her bedroom and down into the living room, making sure to grab a book on her way out. Once there she settled on the couch, turned to a random page and forced her eyes to the print, trying to appear nonchalant.

It wouldn't do to have Starfire think she was _too _eager for her company, after all.

When she heard the sliding doors activate from behind her, she made herself count to three before turning her head. And when she did so she did so slowly, unhurriedly. She chanted '_Keep it cool, Keep it cool, Keep it cool,' _over and over in her head, but in the end it proved futile. Fire still rushed to her cheeks, and her mouth went dry at the sight of her teammate; Starfire's long, curvy legs were encased in denim, and somehow the sight of them detailed and outlined with the material was more alluring than catching that hint of skin usually exposed just under the edge of her purple skirt. The top was just as distracting, though that too hid more skin than the titan's usual attire.

The gleeful, dreamy light shining in her eyes as she strolled down the stairs also had Raven's heart fluttering.

Shutting the book she hadn't been reading, Raven stood and made her way to the kitchen, her knees getting weaker with each step. The Tamaranean didn't seem to notice her presence and strolled over to the kitchen, humming to herself. Raven paused, suddenly nervous and unsure of herself.

_What am I supposed to say? '_Where've you been_'? She's not a child... plus she'll probably think I'm yelling at her or something. Even _she'd_ have trouble telling __my 'angry' face from my 'desperately trying to hide adoration and love' face. They probably look a lot alike. _

But when she looked up she saw Starfire retrieving her jasmine leaves from the pantry, and found an in. "Could I get a cup of that?"

"Of course, Raven."

Starfire smiled at her before moving to the stove to tend to the boiling water. Raven watched her work; the pureness of the other girl's energy never ceased to amaze her. The happiness and joy that practically radiated from her like light does from the sun was tainted by no shadows, no impurities. Or at least, it always had before. Today though, Raven noted with a frown, there seemed to be the slightest of hesitations hiding away just underneath the positivity: a bizarre touch of anxiety discoloring Starfire's aura like a black smudge on a highlighter.

"Star?" Bright green eyes turned from their work to meet her gaze, as curious and bright as always. "Is everything alright? You were gone for a while. Did something… happen?"

Starfire stared at her for a long moment, and Raven found herself blushing under the firm, unwavering green gaze. At the mention of her well-being, particularly her having been gone for a long time, the Tamaranean princess had tensed up, the smile sliding away and dropping into a firm line. She didn't speak, but her eyes dropped to the floor and she turned to face the kettle, leaving Raven with only a profile view of the sudden fear that had risen to the surface, smashing through the calm and happy light that personified Starfire's aura.

Raven reached out and laid a hand on the bronze shoulder put towards her, concern etching hard lines across her brow and dragging down at the corners of her mouth. "Starfire, what's-"

The sudden eruption of steam through the spout of the kettle snapped Starfire out of her daze; her face seemed to open as a flower does for the sun, though the look of surprise that spread across it didn't quite meet the level of brilliance Raven would have been comfortable with. Raven wanted a smile, a genuine smile. So, as Starfire went to prepare the tea Raven reached out and took the hand reaching for the kettle into her own, and when Starfire's gaze turned to hers once more Raven forced herself not to meet it. Instead, she poured the boiling water into the pot to let the tea simmer and (after reluctantly releasing Starfire's hand) retrieved each girl's favorite mug from the cupboard.

Starfire continued to stand there, looking lost. Raven's heart hung heavy in her chest as she poured the steaming tea into the mugs, eyes glancing over at the beautiful alien standing beside her every few moments and lingering a little longer each time until finally, the tea was poured and the pair of them were standing there, Raven staring at Starfire and Starfire staring at the floor.

Raven's eyes narrowed. _This is getting on my nerves. _Gathering up her power, she focused on their two bodies and drew them straight through the walls to her room in a wave of black energy, being sure to bring the tea along for the ride. Once cloaked in the secure shadows of the her quarters, Raven let loose a long sigh and guided an unprotesting Starfire to her bed. They sat down on the edge, the tea mugs drifting down in front of them and into waiting hands.

Raven took a sip to calm herself before starting.

"Starfire… what's wrong? You know you can come to me with anything, right? What's bothering you? You know I'm here for you," _And I'll always be here for you, _"But don't think you'll get out of this with a smile and a hug; your aura's a mess. What's happened to make you feel this way? Why are you so… uneasy?"

Starfire glanced at her shyly from the corners of her eyes, the look on her face reminiscent of a reluctant child being confronted by a fretful parent. A full minute passed by with her gaze shifting to the floor and back before the eyes slid shut and Starfire answered in a whisper.

"I fear I may have done more than… the even."

Raven's brows knit together in confusion. What was she talking about? What 'even'? But then she remembered what it was that Cyborg had said earlier that day when the Teen Titans had returned from a gratifying retribution victory over the Hive Five.

"_Yo, what'd I tell you? I told y'all we'd get even with those little…"_

She hadn't remembered the insult but knowing Cyborg it had probably been witty and appropriate; the exact opposite of whatever Beast Boy would have said.

"Are you talking about Jinx? Starfire, I know you may have hit her pretty hard the other day but you've gotta remember: _she_ hurt you first. And today? You were just doing what was right! You can't be afraid to hurt her in the future, otherwise she could end up hurting a lot of innocent people."

"But-"

"But nothing. Knowing you, you'll keep fretting about this until you've managed to convince yourself that that's the truth, but until then I want you to know that you've done nothing wrong." Starfire was staring at her in utter disbelief, confusion and uncertainty written across every inch of her face, but she pressed on. "Now drink your tea and smile; you've been doing too much frowning lately for my taste."

That made Starfire grin, at least, but Raven knew that it was really just for _her_ sake, more than anything else. Starfire was still upset; that much was obvious. Raven could see it in the way her eyes quickly fell back to the floor, and in the way that her aura continued to project that muddled, cloudy array of black and yellow.

* * *

Starfire clutched the mug in her hands, staring into its swirling depths and wondering if she should tell Raven the truth. The whole truth. She hadn't necessarily lied, she was still a tad sensitive about the last time she'd lied to her friends, but allowing Raven to believe that the battle was _all_ she was talking about probably wasn't the right thing to do. But she couldn't risk losing a chance to get to know Jinx better; she'd probably never get one again.

Spending the night with her had shown Starfire that there was more to Jinx than met the eye. When she fought, yes, she may have been a cunning, calculating thief, but off the battlefield all threat of violence disappeared and Jinx became a charming, intelligent young lady. There was another level to her, a truth hiding behind a lie; the spark of intelligence and soulful light shining in her eyes betrayed a deeper character that Starfire desperately wanted to see more of.

There was this... and then there was the fact that kissing the shorter girl on the cheek had left her lips tingling long after pink hair had been lost from view… and somewhere inside Starfire knew that she wouldn't pass up a chance to do it again.

_I cannot simply return to the way things were, and surely she feels the same! She was the one to ask me for the 'second date' after all, and the way her eyes lit up when she smiled… I do not think I have it in me to crush that smile. If I could, I should like to help it grow. More people should see that smile… more people should see that there is more to her than what her reputation might have them believe…_

Where that thought had come from, she had no idea, but she was glad for it. Because with it came the thought that maybe, just maybe, more people could see Jinx the way Starfire had seen her tonight: kind, bright, fun, alluring…

She sighed.

_The more I think about her, the more I want to see her. _She stood, missing the questioning gaze Raven fixed on her. _I need to meditate; that's the only way I'll be able to calm myself, and Raven._

"Will you meditate with me, my friend?"

Raven stared at her curiously for a moment more before nodding and using her powers to send the mugs over to the nightstand. Rising into position, the pair of girls began to chant, the air around them growing quiet and still as their voices became the only sound left in the world. Everything else fell away, as it always did with meditation, leaving nothing but Starfire and Raven and the slow, gentle chant.

Starfire continued to contemplate her situation.

_I cannot tell my friends about Jinx. I can tell no one about Jinx, not yet. I must get closer to her; I must know for certain that she is as whole-hearted in this as I am. Only then will I know if she is worth saving… from herself and from the demons hovering about her. There is a good heart hidden underneath the harsh words, cruel deeds and wicked grin. Those are a farce, a facade. _

_There is another person hidden within._

_And I will find her. _

She tried, for the first time during meditation, to seek something out rather than retreating within. She cast out her senses, leaving the tower and washing over the city. The sound of chanting was joined by the music of the city night: cars, music, people. People sobbing, people rejoicing, people sleeping, and people loving. She heard it all, felt it all, became part of it all but continued to search, searching for a splash of pink mixed within the grays, reds and blues.

She almost gave up, but just as she began to pull herself back she found it. A pink haze, fuzzy and edged with anxiety, hidden away within one of the cities darker niches. There were other figures in the vicinity, her teammates, but their figures were dull with sleep. The erratic fluctuations of the pink figure told her that Jinx, where ever she was, was having trouble falling asleep.

The thought made her grin.

Starfire let out the tiniest of laughs, and in response the pink figure snapped into alertness, rigid and stiff. _Jinx must not have been expecting visitors... most definitely not ethereal ones.  
_

Her smile fell as she probed the pink haze with her senses and felt the anxiety, the worry... the hope. She remained as she was for a moment more before she tried to project a feeling of warmth, of security, and send it to wherever Jinx might be. Unfortunately, the pink projection of feeling remained taut and nervous. Starfire tried a different tactic and simply smiled, as kindly and as warmly as she could.

The effect was immediate. She could feel the warmth rolling off of herself in waves, flying out over the city, following her senses and filling the room. The warmth settled over Jinx's emotional projection. The harsh edges of the pink figure relaxed and evened themselves out.

A single thought, in Jinx's voice, was returned to her... the tone one not yet heard by the young alien. It was soft, gentle, vulnerable.

_Starfire... _

Her name, whispered in a quiet breathe that was one of the last Jinx took whilst awake. The color of her projection began to dim, and Starfire knew she'd managed to send the other girl peacefully to sleep. She withdrew her senses and found herself chanting alone. Raven had stopped, and was now staring at her again. She simply smiled wider, her grin stretching from ear to ear.

"You are right, Raven. I've done nothing wrong."

* * *

**Short, unexciting chapter, I know. Life has been hectic (I spent 10 days in Italy, came home, then moved into college), and since I've found out that Victorious won't be coming back for a fourth season I feel the need to give my Jori story all the love I can afford. Don't hate me for it!**

**Enjoy. The next few chapters will be better, I promise. When they come.  
**


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